You get my love
by ifonlyyouknowit
Summary: Sometimes parents can drive you crazy. When Arizona Robbins' mother questioned her lifestyle, she turns to her best friend Callie Torres for help. How would that go?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.

A/N : This story was inspired by a short story that I read from somewhere else. I may probably copy a few scenarios but will do my best to put in as many of my own creations as possible. This one is going to be light, and short. Short chapters so I can update more frequently (I guess).  
Let me know if you like this story.  
And oh, all mistakes are mine. I know, I should have found a beta but I don't want to bother the nice people to redo my stupid work, so... please bear with me, okay ;-)

* * *

Stepping out of the elevator with 2 cups of coffee in my hands, I have arrived on the Peds floor.

It's strange for the chief of Ortho surgery department to be in here so early in the morning, especially that I don't have any patient on this floor right now. But one of my best friends in this Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital skipped our routine coffee date because the Head of the Peds department got call in early this morning. So, I'm going to deliver it to her.

It doesn't take long for me to find the blonde woman. She has her back to my direction, a hand on her hip talking to one of the interns.

"Hey, I brought you some coffee." My voice startles her. As she turns around, I can see that she already had a cup in her hand. "Oh, you already had one."

"Oh no, I want your coffee. I need your coffee." Arizona gives me a dimpled smile whilst taking a cup from me, and passes the other one to the nameless intern. Quickly, she gives out instructions to send the light blue scrub wearing doctor away.

"Long night?" I ask, watching her gulps down the coffee that I just gave her.

"You have no idea." She makes a wry face before taking another sip of the vanilla latte. "On top of that, that intern got me a black coffee. A black coffee, Calliope. Who'd drink that?"

I say nothing but smile. How could that poor boy know that the perky surgeon not just like her coffee sweet, she actually asks for an extra pump of syrup in her drink?

Arizona lets out a satisfied little sigh after getting her morning dose of sugar intake. The sparkle finds the way to her bright eyes and her adorable dimples pop, but I can't help to notice the dark circles under her eyes.

"You look tired. I'll leave you to get some rest." I give her a sympathetic smile before turning to leave, but she grips my arm stopping me.

"Hey Calliope, do you have a second?" She asks me, with a hint of bashfulness.

"Sure." I answer. I have about an hour free time before the rounds. "Something's wrong?"

"No... Yes... kind of." She shrugs a shoulder uncomfortably. Apparently, something is bothering her. So I suggest to going to the attending's lounge, where has more privacy, and a comfortable couch that she can rest.

"So... I had a call with my mom last night." Arizona says as soon as we sit down on the couch. It seems that it is a busy morning, none of our peers are there with us in this cozy lounge.

"And...?" I raise my eyebrows waiting. Arizona has come to work in here for over two years, and we have been close friends for half of the time. We've known a lot of things about the others. It isn't a surprise that she talked to her mother yesterday. They talk on the phone almost every day.

"Do you remember Nick?" She asks, and I nod my head.

"Your childhood friend who came here with bone cancer about two years ago? Yeah, I remember him." I smile genuinely. Of course I remember Nick. The incredibly pretty new doctor that caught my attention from time to time, who I had only nodding acquaintance with walked up to me one day, asking me to help with her friend. That was the beginning of our friendship.

"Mom said that Nick broke up with his girlfriend." Arizona sighs with a twitch of her lips. I squint at her and then it hits me.

"Please don't tell me that you're thinking to match me with him."

"No! Of course not!" Her lips curled in disgust. A little excessive if I may add. "I wouldn't do that to you."

"So? What is the problem?" I find myself feeling relieved. Not that I don't find Nick an attractive man, he's just not who I want to be with. Heaving back in the couch, tucking a leg under myself so I can face her directly, I give her a questioning look.

"I've told you that Nick is very close to my family, right? He is like a second son to my mom, especially after Tim..." Her blue eyes clouded slightly. The death of her brother is always a sore spot in her heart, she doesn't like to bring it up and I am the few in the work place that know about him. "Well, it is no secret that mom wants Nick in our family."

"You're joking, right? You and Nick?" The idea of gold star lesbian Arizona Robbins being with a man is ridiculous. I throw my head back laughing out at the top of my lungs, but the laugher dies in my throat when I catch the grimace on her face. "I thought that your mom knows you don't like men?"

"She knows, and she acknowledges it, but that doesn't stop her for hoping..." Arizona puts her face in her palms and groans out aloud. "In her logic, I don't like most men but I love Nick."

"Oh my god, I like your mother." I can't help myself. Despite of the displeased glare that she darts at me between her fingers, I just keep laughing. "I really wish that I'd meet her someday."

"It's not funny, Calliope." She is practically stamping on the floor. It makes me laugh even harder.

"Then what? How did the call end?"

"It didn't end well... I kept telling her that I like women and I date women, but she pointed out that I don't date much." She rolls her eyes skyward, no doubt that both to her mother's comment and my smirk.

"Well, if I am correct, you haven't had a date in months." Not that I keep track of her love life - we don't really talk about that. Gorgeous women around her come and go like a revolving door, but I haven't seen her going out with anyone in a while.

"It isn't the point." Arizona looks a little shock, maybe surprise of me noticing that. "My mom doesn't know what I'm doing in here. She has no idea if I'm dating someone or not."

"But you're not dating anyone." I point out, and she gives me a wry face.

"You sound just like my mother. She kept on and on telling me that I'm at that age. Marriage, babies... settle down with someone." She pauses briefly and then continues with her voice an octave higher, apparently mimicking her mother. " _Nick is a nice guy. He would be a good husband and father. Maybe the reason you don't have a serious relationship because subconsciously, you're waiting for him._ "

I just smile at her, making no effort to hide my amusement.

"I have no choice but to tell her that I'm actually in a _very_ serious relationship." Arizona twists her lips and then looks down at her feet.

"You're dating someone?" My smile freezes, as if someone has thrown a bucket of cold water on me. She is in a very serious relationship?

"I am not. That's the problem." She shots me a quick glance. I don't know if she has caught my sigh of relief. "She was ecstatic, asking me all type of questions. She wanted name, where we met, what my girlfriend is doing for a living, how long we have been together..."

"Did you invent an imaginary girlfriend?" I can't suppress my chuckle. I just find the whole situation hilarious.

"Not entirely invented." She glanced at me once again, with the same bashful expression on her face like earlier. "Your name came up in my head and I kinda blurted it out."

"What?" I almost fall off of the couch. "What... how... why... why me? You have all those beautiful women that you went out with. You even have that... that dating app on your phone that can get you an emergency girlfriend anytime you want."

Her head hangs lower, and I can see a dusty blush rises on her cheek.

"I don't mean... I'm not saying..." I don't mean to slut shame her. I am not. Seeing the embarrassment on her face, I curse myself for putting my foot in my mouth. "I just don't understand, why me?"

"Your name came up." Arizona shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly, but the blush on her face is getting redder. "I... I need someone I can trust, and who I actually like, and who I know my parents will love... My mom already knew you because you fixed Nick, that she knows you're a real person."

It feels like I don't know how to control my face anymore. I don't know I should laugh or frown or... I don't know. I just stare at her blankly.

"It's stupid, I know." She gives me an awkward smile, obviously couldn't read my mind either. "But you know how mothers can go. I just... I was trying to get her off my back. And you know I'm not a quick thinker."

"Okay..." I say slowly, taking a few deep breaths while looking at her eyes. Her damn blue eyes. I wonder if she knows that whenever she looks at me like that, with her bright piercing blue eyes fixating on me, like she can reach into my soul, I can never say no to her. "Fine, it's not like I'll have to travel to Boston to meet with them."

"About that..." She tilts her head to one side, eyes drift to somewhere behind me. I know that thoughtful look. Likes she's trying to find a way to break the bad news to the parents of her patients.

"Arizona...?" I trail off, and she put her gaze back on me.

"Here's the thing. As I told you, my mom was ecstatic." A wary smile surfaces on her lips. "Next month is my Uncle Ted and Auntie Sandra's 50 years marriage anniversary. They're going to have a big party in San Diego..."

"You want me to go with you?" I interject her instantly. Staring at her with bug-eyes, my voice trembles. The idea of meeting her relatives as her girlfriend sends a shudder of panic through me again.

She waves her hand and then rests it on my knee, trying to calm me down.

"No no, you don't have to." Arizona says quickly. "I have promised to go with my parents, but you don't have to. I told her that you're too busy. I have applied of the holiday weeks ago. You won't be able to leave with such a short notice, I told her that."

"Okay...?" I breathe out. My voice somewhat shaky. I know there's more to come.

"My mom... she really wants to meet the woman that I'm dating. She decided to take a detour to Seattle before the party." She wets her lips. Apparently the look on my face is making her nervous. "She and my dad are coming to Seattle in a few days, staying with me for a while before heading together to San Diego."

"Your parents are coming to Seattle..." I say slowly, trying to grasp what she just told me.

"To meet my girlfriend." She finishes my sentence with a firm nod.

"Oh god..." I shot up from the couch, starting to pace back and forth in the lounge. "Oh god... oh god..."

"Calliope..." She calls my name helplessly.

"They'll be here for a whole month?" I come to a halt standing in front of her.

"Just three weeks." She puts on a small smile. Yeah, like it is gonna help. I resume to my pacing.

"And you want me to..." After a few laps, I stop right in front of her once again.

"Be my girlfriend." She has a weird sparkle in her eyes, but my mind is just too occupied to address that.

"This is crazy." I force a laugh to my shaking lips. And I can see that her face falls.

"Listen, Calliope. I know that you're not gay and maybe you think pretending to be in a lesbian relationship is... preposterous." Arizona's voice holds the flatness of defeat that makes my heart sinks. I'm her best friend. She needs help and I'm making it difficult. "But I... I ..."

"No! That's not what I'm thi..." I cut her off quickly, but she doesn't let me finish.

"I'm out of options in here. You don't know my mother. She gets into my head all the times." She drums her two sets of finger on her knees, clearly frustrated with my response to her request. "If she knows I have no one, and Nick is gonna be there in my uncle's party, she probably will just throw us a wedding behind my uncle's beach house. You know what would happen when I have a glass of wine too much."

I do know. She's a light weight. She has incredible self-control when it comes to alcohol, but the few times that we went out with Cristina and Meredith, after mixing wine with tequila, she would do things that she would never do, liked dancing on the coffee table, slowly unbuttoned her blouse and then threw that at me...

I can totally picture her pounding wine after wine while her mother sitting next to her, nagging her... next she knows, she would be standing before a priest with a massive hangover, about to marry the guy that she had once married when she was 7 years old.

"I promise you," Her voice pulls me out of my imagination. "I will make sure that they wouldn't come to the hospital. So no one, except maybe Teddy, knows about it. You don't have to worry that people think you're gay."

"Arizona, that's not what I'm worried about." I look right into her eyes and keep my back straight. How can she think that is the problem?

"Then why?" She asks desperately.

Why am I so worried? I'm worried that my secret will be exposed. The secret that I have had a crush on my best friend ever since I caught a glimpse of her in the ER 28 months ago. That's what I'm worried about.

When we're _just_ best friends, I can still keep the distance. But pretending to be in love, in a _very_ serious relationship with her? I don't know if I can handle that.

"Calliope, please...?" Arizona rises up from the couch, standing right in front of me just a foot away, pleading with her eyes. Her damn blue eyes.

"Fine, I'll do it." I sigh, half wonder if I'd really say no to her.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" As soon as my answer leaves my mouth, she pulls me in for a bone cracking hug. Her arms wrap around my neck, and my own have their own minds to wrap around her waist. "It's gonna be okay."

I tighten the hold, burying my nose in her hair, breathing in her scents.

I doubt that it's gonna be okay.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.

A/N : Thank you all for the supports. I'm glad that you like this story. I have fun writing it, and I hope you also have fun reading it.

All mistakes are mine, sorry.

* * *

"Oh hey, Mark." Seeing who is there taking the empty stool next to me at Joe's bar, I greet my other best friend at work with a slightly disappointed tone.

"Hello to you too, Torres." He says sarcastically, no doubt that he picked up the disappointment in my voice. "Sorry that I'm not blonde, with dimples and have a vagina."

"Mark..." I roll my eyes at him. He just likes to take every chance he gets to taunt me. Thankfully, he has never done that in front of Arizona. "I'm happy to see you, I'm just expecting Arizona."

"Oh, dinner? Can I join you? Lexie blew me off for an appendectomy." He takes a sip of the scotch that just placed in front of him. "The new sushi place seems pretty good."

"No, we're not going for dinner. Arizona's parents arrive tomorrow. We have some preparations to do." I stir my rum and coke absentmindedly, keeping an eye on the front door, hoping to see the blonde head that was supposed to show up about half an hour ago.

"Oh, you're really doing it." He shifts in the stool, giving me his trademark annoying lopsided grin.

"What am I suppose to do? She already gave my name to her mother." I turn toward the bartop, trying to avoid his prying eyes.

"Come on, even so, you'd dye your hair blonde for her if blondie just told her parents that she's dating a blonde." Mark reaches out his hand, picking up a strand of my hair and twirling it with his fingers.

"No, I wouldn't." I slap his hand away and hiss at him.

"You totally would." He laughs and then pulls his stool closer to me, invading my personal space. "You know what? Maybe this is the chance for you to tell blondie about your crush on her."

"I don't have a crush on her." I keep my voice low. Mark has been my friend since my residency in the hospital. He gets me and he knows me. It didn't take him a lot of times to notice that I have a hot for a certain blonde Peds surgeon. But I don't need the rest of the people in the bar to know about that.

"Yeah, keep denying that. Every one can see the stupid look that you keep giving blondie." He gestures his hand around my face, and I slap it away once again.

"I don't have a stupid look." I mumble under my breath, can't even convince myself.

"I'm just saying, Torres. Act on it." Mark wraps an arm around my shoulder, punctuating each word with a squeeze of my arm. "Otherwise, soon she'll have a real girlfriend to show to her parents, and you're gonna stuck in the friend zone forever."

"Funny for you to say. What do you know about zones? I thought that you only know about bases?" I feel my lips curling into a smirk. The banters between us come easy, this is one of the reasons that we can be good friends for so long.

We chuckle together. Before he can give a return, both of us feel someone approaching us from behind.

"What are you guys talking about?" Arizona looks between Mark and me, and the gap between our bodies. Well, there's no gap. Mark is practically pressing his upper body against mine.

"Baseball." Mark drops the arm that was around me on his side, plastering on the lopsided smile that he knows Arizona hates.

The two of my best friends are like oil and water, that's something I really don't understand. Not that they hate each other, they work well and professional in the hospital, but it seems that Mark always has a way to piss off Arizona and Arizona doesn't seem so keen to be around Mark outside the OR.

I know that Arizona tolerates him because he is my friend, so from time to time I'd remind Mark to be nicer to her. I think it's time to have that talk with him again.

"Do you want to have a drink?" I ask her, putting on a beaming smile, making up for the jackass attitude that Mark is currently giving her.

"Nope, I'm driving. Maybe we can have a glass later when we get back to my place?" She smiles back to me, not looking at the man sitting next to me.

"Okay." I fish out a couple dollars from my pocket and put them on the counter. It should be enough to cover my drink. I wave goodbye to Mark and the jackass says after us.

"Have fun with your girlfriend. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You told him?" Arizona turns her face to me. Her eyes are like saucers.

"He's Mark." I shrug a shoulder. It's weak, I know. Quickly I take hold of a few of the big bags in her hands, trying to change the subject. "What are these?"

"These are going to your apartment." She gives me a sidelong glance and then stalks toward the door, with a few steps ahead of me. Shit, she's pissed.

I didn't know that we're going to my place first, but I say nothing follow her across the street. Fortunately, her anger is short lived and by the time we reach the elevator, the tension on her face eases off and she's smile to me again.

"What are these for?" I ask her, gesturing the multiple bags that she brings with her.

"You'll see." She winks at me whilst passing through the front door after I opened it.

Putting the bags next to the couch, Arizona walks toward the entertainment center, picking up the framed photo that I put next to the television set. That is a photo that someone took for us in one of the hospital events. A few of our colleagues were in it too, but the focus was on Arizona and me, and we were smiling to each other. She has the same picture in her living room.

"We need to take some couple's pictures." She says to me whilst putting down the photo.

"You need a couple of pictures? Okay, you can get them from my photo albums." I arrive from the kitchen, handing her a bottle of water.

"No, Calliope. Couple's pictures." She corrects me with a smile. And she adds seeing that I'm totally at a loss. "Photos that have just the two of us. We need to put them in my house, and your apartment."

"Oh, okay." I just nod, scratching the back of my head. "But why my apartment too?"

"Calliope, my mother may ask to visit your home since we're not living together." She gives me a mischievous glance before passing by me to her bags. "Let's get to work. We still have to go to my house after we're done in here."

So, this morning during coffee Arizona told me that we have some preparations to do, I thought that she meant prepping me for questions that her parents may ask. Clearly I was wrong.

She tosses me a beige blanket telling me to cover it on my bright red couch, replacing the plain black cushions with the soft floral design ones that she has brought over. In the meantime, she is running around in my living room, putting bowl of potpourri on the coffee table, candles everywhere... she even has a bright orange vase to place on the breakfast bar. When she pulls out a framed picture of a sunrise over the horizon, I have to ask.

"What are you doing?"

"Adding some colors in your place. It's too harsh and… frowny in here." She stands on her tiptoes to hang the picture, and then takes a few steps back with a satisfied nod. She does have good taste. The soft yellow and blue tone picture goes well with the stony concrete wall.

"Frowny?" I stand next to her, casting a sly glance at her before reaching out to level the picture frame.

"I meant modern and… edgy." She tilts her head to the side, putting on an innocent smile batting her eyelashes at me.

"You've been here before. I haven't seen you complain about that." Hands on my hips, I answer her smile with a squint. And her smile widens, because she has commented about it, numerous times in exact.

"Yeah, now you're my girlfriend and this is supposed to be our place, I need it to be more... smiley." She grips my wrist with one hand and picks up a gym bag on the other, pulling me toward my room. "Now, bedroom."

"Seriously? You want to transfer my bedroom to an Easter basket too?" I chuckle behind her. I should have been scared of how big a deal that she's making it, but somehow, I don't mind.

"Nope, but you need to give me a drawer." Throwing the gym bag on my bed, she flops down next to it, kicking her legs enthusiastically.

"Why?" I stop by the door looking at her with amusement.

"Calliope, girlfriends who have sleepovers would have change of clothes in each other's place. Chop chop!" She claps her hands, and then waving a hand toward the cabinet. "Empty a drawer. Put my clothes in it and then pick up something to bring over to mine."

"Excuse me, I haven't had a chance to read the handbook of girlfriend sleepovers." I murmur under my breath, but make sure that it is loud enough for her to hear.

"Yeah, I'll lend you my copy later." Arizona leads further backward onto my bed, propping her body up by the arms behind her, giving me one of her complacent smile.

Biting the corner of my lip, I make a show to go over to my cabinet, pulling out the second drawer and quickly dump everything onto the smirking woman. She squeals and falls back onto the mattress burying in my clothes.

We are both laughing by now. She picks up one of the items and throws that on my face squarely that makes her laugh even harder. But her laugher stops when I arch an eyebrow, putting down the now empty drawer dramatically.

"No no no..." She must have known that what I'm gonna do - she claws backward trying to extend the distance between us, but I'm quicker. I charge at her. First I grip her leg stopping her from moving away, and then my hands fly to her hips starting to tickle her.

Arizona breaks into a burst of laughter, so am I. Her body writhes from side to side, trying to escape from my attack, and her hands grasp mine wanting to peel them off of her. But come on, I break bones for a living. Her girly hands wouldn't be able to fight mine.

"Please... please... Calliope... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." She begs for mercy between laughers and squeaks. Finally, I stop tickling her. Taking her wrists by my hands and hold them over her head, I give her a cocky smile.

And then, I choke in my breath silently.

In this position, Arizona's face is just inches from mine. I can feel her warm breaths on my face. And I can feel our bodies pressing into each other.

I have never been this close to her. Of course, we have hugged each other, touching each other on the hands or arms, sometimes she'd put her hand on my knee, and she'd wrap her arm around mine as we walk side by side... but this? Never.

I don't know what have got into me. I just know... if I dip my head a little further down, my lips would be touching hers... Her soft, glamorous, alluring lips...

"Calliope..." Her soft voice stirs my thought. Her intense blue eyes bore into mine and I can see the movement of her throat, apparently swallowing hard thinking to ask me to get off of her.

I fumble backward on my feet, forcing a few chuckles out of my mouth to cover up my embarrassment.

"See? You're making a mess in here." I pick up the empty drawer and place it next to her. "Put your things inside and I'm gonna clean up."

I turn my back to her picking up the clothes that have fallen on the floor during our scuffle, and I can hear her letting out a quiet sigh of relief. I curse myself in my head.

 _You have to control yourself, Torres. You're a pretend girlfriend, it's not real. You don't get to hold her this close._

We begin to work in a somewhat awkward silence, until Arizona sees what I have laid out preparing to bring to her house.

"Calliope, seriously?" She looks at me with a frown when I put the clothes in the bag and about to zip it up.

"What?" I raise my eyebrows at her. What have I done wrong?

"A T-shirt and a yoga pants?" Snatching the bag from my hands, she holds my sleeping clothes in her fist.

"Yeah, those are my pajamas." Actually, no. I wear a tank top and boy shorts in my bed, but I don't think that's appropriate to bring it over to my pretend girlfriend's home.

"You really haven't seen the handbook. You don't just put a set of PJ in your second home. You have change of clothes in there." She put on a sternly face, lecturing me like she has actually read such a handbook. "So what, you spend the night and then put on the same outfit the next morning?"

"I don't think that is nece... ssary..." My refutation halts mid sentence when she arches her eyebrows smirking at me. Fine, she's an expert, it seems. I throw up my hands. "What should I do then?"

"What are you gonna do without me, Calliope?" She gives me a playful eye rolling and goes to my cabinet.

She pulls out a couple of pants and tops from the third drawer, that she saw me just putting them in there. And then she opens my top drawer and hums...

"Really?" My eyes bulge when she reaches into my underwear drawer.

"My mom's staying with me for three weeks. Without a doubt that she'll do my laundry even if I told her not to. You don't want her opening the drawers and find out that you don't wear underwear, do you?" She says to me over her shoulder in a matter-of-fact tone and then turns back to what she was doing.

Before I can stop her, she picks up one of my red bras. The way she looks at it with her bottom lips between her teeth is making me kinda uneasy.

"Yeah, yeah, I like red and I like how they look on me. You don't have to stare at them like that." I quickly snatch the garment from her hand and shove it into the bag. I can feel the warmth on my face.

"Like what?" She looks between me and the bag with a puzzle look.

"Like it's absurd for me to put on a..." Sexy, was the word almost slipped out of my lips. "red bra."

I'm taller and thick than a lot of women but that doesn't really bother me. I'm a strong, confident woman who feels good about her size. Somehow, I become conscious when it comes to Arizona.

I've seen a few of the women that came to pick her up from the hospital for their dates. They were hot, gorgeous and slender, especially that foxy Italian who looked like a size 0 super model. That made me even more certain that she wouldn't be interested in a size 12 me.

"What are you talking about? I am thinking..." There she is, again swallowing hard like she's trying to find a way not to hurt my feelings. "... how good you look in the lace..."

"Yeah right." I rolled my eyes upward. How pathetic I am that she has to make a lie to make me feeling better? Nudging her toward my en suite bathroom, I tell her, "I'll pick out something. You go check if there's anything in the bathroom that you want to bring to your house."

She gives me a strange look before walking away.

* * *

A/N 2 : Okay, I hope this chapter answered one of the questions - why Callie's upset. She is not upset, she's insecure ;-)

Next, prepping Arizona's house. What do you want to see in there?


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.

A/N : Thank you all for the support, and thank you all for liking this story. Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint you.  
All mistakes are mine, sorry.

* * *

After getting everything Arizona thought that she needs for convincing her parents, we're heading to her house where about 15 minutes away from my apartment.

"So..." I ask, trying to sound as casual as I can. "You have done this before?"

"Done what?" She raises her eyebrows at my question, still keeping her eyes on the road.

"Bringing stuff to your girlfriends' place?" My head is facing forward, but watching her reaction from the corner of my eye.

"Nope, never." She shrugs her shoulder, saying lightly.

"Oh, they went to yours." I nod my head in acknowledgement. It's not my place to be jealous, but knowing that someone had once moved their personal belonging into Arizona's home brings a knot to my stomach.

"Nah, I haven't had a relationship long enough for... you know." She glances at me briefly, tugging the corner of her lips to a small smile.

"Seriously? You seem like knowing what you're doing." I turn to look at the bag that holds my clothes in the back seat, my mind revisiting the moment that she told me to fill it up.

"I told you, I've read the handbook." Her mischievous chuckles ring in the car as she pulls into the driveway.

"There's no sleepover handbook, Arizona." Her contagious laughter makes me chuckle along.

"I just... I don't know. Maybe I'm a little too excited for the whole idea, you know, having you as my girlfriend for the coming few weeks. And then I thought," She turns off the engine and then quickly gets out of the car. I can't read her facial expression to find out whether she is making another joke. "If you were my girlfriend, I wouldn't want us to spend any night apart. And I'd want you to have everything you need for the next morning in my place."

 _If I were her girlfriend, I wouldn't want to spend any night apart, either._ I think in my head whilst exiting her car, with the bag in my hand.

Instead of going forward to unlock the door, Arizona is standing there few feet away waiting for me with her cellphone in hand. As I come closer, she holds it up.

"Let's take some pictures." She rolls her eyes when I give her a confused look. "I told you, we need couple's photos."

She shifts to stand on my side, one hand behind me on my lower back and the other raises the phone intending to take a selfie. She leans closer, but I pull back unconsciously. Being this close to her, the incident on my bed plays in my head again.

"Ugh, I can't get a good angle..." Arizona groans, stretching her arm and adjusting the position. And the hand behind me comes to rest on my hip. "Come closer, I need the two on us in the picture."

Swallowing thickly, I lean into her with my bag holding hand behind her. Her hand is shaking slightly and the lens can't really find the focus. After a few more attempts, I take the phone from her hand.

"Give me that." I laugh. "You have no idea how to take a photo."

She gives me a growl, but I can hear the smile in her voice. And now both of her hands are free, she wraps her arms around my midsection, nuzzling her face against my neck and smiling to the screen.

I feel my body going stiff. Dipping my head slighty try to look into her face, I am startled when I hear the sound of the shutter. My finger slipped and pressed the button.

"I thought you said that you know how to take a photo?" She smiles at me teasingly. The dimples on her face somewhat relax me and I give her an elvish smile, pressing the button once again without taking my eyes off of her.

"You'll see." I wink at her and then look into the screen, about to take a real picture.

It's late, the sky is luminous with the light at the uncovered moon. Combining with the street lamps and her front porch lights, there is a soft glow surrounds us. Looking at the beaming face in the screen, I couldn't help to spread my lips matching with hers.

"One more," She requests after I've already taken a few pictures of us with faces pressing together. I make a playful grimace at her.

"You're so demanding. Fine. One... Two..." The three chokes in my throat when she puts her lips on my cheek.

"Good, it looks... convincing." She takes the phone from my hand, looking down at the screen as she walks toward the front door, without giving me another gaze.

I don't need a mirror to know I'm wearing an uncontrollable goofy smile when I walk into her house.

"You go put the things in my room first," She waves her hand upward as she walked toward the study. "I'll go print out the photos. Oh, I'm gonna order us some pizza, is that okay for you?"

"You know it." I sing whilst walking upstairs. I've be here a couple times, knowing where her bedroom is.

Arizona likes soft colors, soothing colors. It shows on how she decorates her house, and her bedroom is no different. The walls are in a light shade of lilac, light grey carpet matching with light cream curtains, and sky blue bedding. It's a big contrast to mine. She likes to tease me for sleeping in a bat cave and I often mock her that she's sleeping in Alice's wonderland.

Walking to her closet, I can see that she has cleared out the 2 bottom drawers of the cabinet. How many things she thinks that I'm gonna bring here for a pretend stay?

After everything's in place, I stand up from the floor and come face to face to the top drawer. She probably keeps her underwear on the top drawer, like everyone does. My hand has its own mind reaching out to the handle.

 _Don't be a pervert, Torres._ I shake my head. _Well, she has her hand in yours a while ago, it's only fair for you to check out her bras, right?_

"You can look into my underwear drawer if you want." Arizona's voice break my inter struggle. Dropping my hand like it's burning me, I swirl around finding her leaning against the bedroom door with a smug smile. "I won't stop you."

"I... who said that I... I..." I know that my face has turned beet red but I'm not going to admit what I almost have done. "I don't want to look into your underwear drawer."

"Yeah, right..." She smirks, walking into her own bedroom. "So, which side do you want?"

"What?" I look back to the cabinet. Are we supposed to share the underwear drawer?

"No! I mean the bed." Arizona laughs with her head throwing back, clearly proud of herself for messing with my head.

"I..." I chuckle out, trying to cover up my embarrassment but I believe my burning cheeks are giving me out. "Whichever side is fine, but..."

"I have to at least make it looks like you actually sleeping here." She read my mind. Flopping down on her bed, she pats the empty spot next to her, gesturing me to sit down. "I don't mind you actually sleeping next to me though."

Arizona and I have fallen asleep in on-call rooms next to each other a couple times during a dreadful day of works, surgeries after surgeries that drained away our energy. We were both too exhausted to seek for a room that have 2 separated beds so we just simply shared the only bed in the room for a power nap. Even so, we were fully clothes in our scrubs, and too tired for thinking of anything other than getting some much needed rest.

But sharing a bed, Arizona's private bed, in the night, in our sleeping clothes...

"What is your plan?" I sit down on the edge of the other side of the bed, keeping a distance between us. "You know, pretending to be your girlfriend."

"Well, not thinking that as a pretend." Arizona throws her arms over her head for a stretch, sinking deeper onto her bed. And her smile drops seeing the hesitation on my face. "Calliope, I don't mean to burden you with my trouble, but like I said, I've told them that I'm dating you. And they're so excited to come to see the woman that I've fallen in love with. But if you don't want to..."

"I've already promised to help you, Arizona." I stop her hurriedly. Hating that she thinks I'm backing down on my promise. "I just don't know how are we going to work it out?"

"Thank you." A small smile finds the way back on her face. "What my father hates the most is to know that someone's lying to him."

"And we're actually lying to him." I lie down next to her, giving her a teasing smile.

"He doesn't know that doesn't hurt. We just have to convince my parents that we're in a relationship." She turns to her side, propping her head up looking at me. "You don't have to come over every day. I can make some excuses like you're on the night shifts, or surgeries that keep you away."

"Okay." I nod my head. That would work.

"But I hope that you don't mind joining us for dinner a couple times during their stays." Her blue eyes find mine. She gives me a strange look and there is a hint of shyness in her voice. "You don't really have to sleep in here. Don't worry, they normally go to bed early. They wouldn't know that you leave the house afterward. And I can tell them that you got page in early in the morning."

"You really have thought of everything." I nod again with a brief smile. Resting my hands on my stomach, fingers drumming against fingers, I ask her. "But then what? I mean, you can't lie to them forever."

"About that... I think, I'll tell them that we have broken up a few months later, and we have decided that we're better off of being just friends." Arizona flopped back down on her back, narrowing her eyes at the ceiling. After a pregnant pause, she sighs. "And I'm too traumatized for even consider dating someone again. That would shut my mother up for a good couple of years."

"Yeah..." I trail off, retracting my gaze from her face, staring at the ceiling.

She does have thought of everything. How we started, and how we're going to end.

We just lie there in silence on her bed, until the door bell rings.

"Pizza's here." She gives me a smile, and then gets up to answer the door.

* * *

"Tell me something about your parents?" I take a sip of the wine washing down the last bit of pizza in my mouth. We're sitting on the opposite side of the couch, the volume of the television is on low working as the background sound of our conversation.

"You already knew that my father was served as a colonel in the marine." Arizona throws the pizza bone into the now empty box. We have already run through some of the details about how to deal with the Robbins' in the coming 3 weeks, but I feel like I'd need more. "What do you want to know?"

"Well..." I twist my lips thinking. "How did they meet?"

"Glad that you ask me. If you ask my mother, you'd never hear the end of it." She gives a short chuckle before wetting her lips with the wine. "They were high school sweethearts."

"Wow! Like... 50 years ago?" I'm impressed. My own parents are together for nearly 40 years and that is already a long time. 50 years, unimaginable.

"More or less. They met each other when they were both 15. And then my father enlisted when he was 18. It was his dream and destiny to follow grandpa's footstep." Arizona turns her back against the armrest and her legs cross in Indian-style on the couch. "He tried to break up with my mom because you'd never know what would happen when you serve in the military."

"And they found each other again years later?" I sip my wine slowly, intriguing by the story.

"No, my mother didn't let him." A glimmer of smile comes to her lips. "She said to him, and I quote, _if you want to break up with me because you don't love me, fine. But if you do that just because you are leaving to serve the country, I won't accept it, Mr. Robbins._ "

"Wow..." I exclaimed again. "You mother really is..."

"Yeah, she is really something." Arizona laughs, a coarse hearty guffaw. "She even asked my dad to marry her before he got ship off, but he said no. He wanted to give her some time to think it through. For 5 years they'd only see each other during my dad's breaks and communicated just with letters. But that didn't change her mind."

"Distance makes the heart grow fonder." I prompt, and she agrees with a nod.

"Exactly. And once I asked my mother if she ever have doubt about this relationship, she said never. She told me when you find a person with whom you have a connection so strong that you're drawn to them in a way you have never experienced before, you want to have a future with this person, sharing your life with this person. You wouldn't let them get away-"

"He is her soulmate." We say at same time.

"And dad is grateful that my mother didn't give up on them." Arizona hugs her knees to her chest and rests her head against the back of the couch, staring at the fireplace in her thoughts. "Sometimes I just wish I could be as bold and determined as my mother, to be able to tell the person that I love her."

"You..." I clear my throat. Acting as nonchalant as possible, I reach for the bottle filling up our glasses. I'm nervous of going to ask a question that I'm afraid to know the answer. "Have you met that person?"

"No." She breathes out, pulling her gaze from the fire to my face after a few seconds of silence. "No, I haven't."

* * *

A/N 2 : I try to keep it light and funny and silly but old habits die hard... don't worry, crazy things are going to happen when the Robbins arrive in the next chapter. (just hope I'd deliver :-p)


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.

A/N : Thank you.  
All mistakes are mine.

* * *

 _Deep breathe. Deep breathe. You can do this._

Well, it's easier said than done. My hands are shaking. Maybe I should just head back to the car and go home. I can call Arizona and tell her that I'm not feeling well. We can reschedule. Her parents are gonna be here for weeks anyway.

 _But... you've promised her._

 _Yeah, I said that I'd be here, but I didn't say when..._

Before I'd make up my mind, the door opens in front of me.

"You do know that we can hear your car pulling up in my driveway, right?" Arizona smiles at me on the other side of the door. "My mom is watching you through the window in the kitchen. She thinks you're adorable."

"I'm not adorable. I'm nervous." I roll my eyes, fidgeting with the belt of my shoulder bag.

"That's why she thinks you're adorable." Her smile goes wider. "Stop being nervous, just come in and... give me a kiss."

"What?" I whisper in return.

"We are in love, remember?" She leans in, arching an eyebrow at me still wearing the smile on her face. "I told you, my mom is watching."

"Oh, right." Blushing furiously, I lean in and softly brush her lips with mine.

We pull apart quickly because someone is calling out behind us.

"Arizona, can I come out from the kitchen now?" I guess that's her mother's voice.

"Mom, I didn't lock you in there, you can come out any time you want." Arizona takes my hand in hers, pulling me toward the kitchen. And a nice old lady walks out from there before we reach the door.

"You told me to stay put when I said that I'm gonna open the door. How do I know when am I allow to come see your girlfriend?" Arizona's mother darted Arizona a mischievous glance. I can see where Arizona gets her wits from. And the pair of dimples, too.

"Mrs. Robbins, nice to meet you." I greet her politely, shyly half hiding behind Arizona.

"If you're going to insist on calling me Mrs. Robbins, I'm going to address you as Miss Torres then." Mrs. Robbins tilts her head, raising her brows, looking at me with hands on her hips.

"I..." I wish the ground to open up and swallow me now. I have never met anyone's mother and I really don't know what to do.

"You can call her Barbara, babe." Arizona put both hands on my shoulders pushing me forward, coming face to face to her mother. "Mom, I swear if you scare her away, I'll never talk to you again."

"Yeah, I know you love Calliope more than you love your own mother, you don't have to remind me that." Barbara pouts between Arizona and me, but her effort to feign sadness is not convincing because her eyes are smile. And she finally pulls me into her arms. "It's so nice to finally meet you, Calliope."

"Thank you, Barbara." I relax in the strong arms. "And you can call me Callie."

"Yeah, mom. I'm the only one who's allowed to call her Calliope." Arizona sticks her tongue out mocking her mother after Barbara let go of me.

"No, it's fine." I drop my gaze to the floor, trying to surmount my embarrassment. I've just realized that Arizona calls me only by my full name since the first time we officially met, and I've never thought about correcting her or telling her to stop it. "Just... everyone calls me Callie."

"Oh I understand, honey." Barbara keeps a hand on my arm, saying with a smile. "It's like I don't want anyone else call my husband 'hot stuff'."

"Eww... mom! I don't need to know the pet name you have for dad!" Arizona's face scrunches to a grimace. And she takes my hand once again leading me to the living room. "Let's go see dad before my mother reveals more bedroom secrets to us."

"What makes you think that your dad isn't going to..." Barbara follows us, and she seems having fun teasing her own daughter.

"Dad!" Arizona shouts before we enter the living room, cutting her mother off. "Tell mom to stop talking and Calliope's here."

"You know very well that I don't want to get into the fight between you and your mother." The man sitting on the couch puts down the newspaper, revealing his stern, yet gracious face. He stands up to give me his hand. "Nice to meet you, Calliope. I hope you don't mind the two of them. Sometime it's like I have 2 baby girls in my family."

"Nice to meet you too, Colonel." I take his hand in mine to a firm, confident handshake. Kinda glad that I remember Arizona has told me that his father likes to be called the Colonel. But my confident front quickly dissolves to giggling fool when the mother and daughter open their mouths.

"It's Callie to you, dad."

"Yeah, and Arizona just said that she doesn't want to know our pet names behind doors, and you called me your baby girl in front of her."

"Oh my god! Mom!"

"Callie, I hope that you realize what you get yourself into." The Colonel gives me a sympathy smile.

* * *

Despite of Arizona's protest, Barbara drags me to the kitchen helping her with the dinner. And _my_ _girlfriend_ is staying in the living room keeping his father company.

"I need a garlic presser..." Barbara looks around the kitchen, opening a drawer but the tools that she needs is not in there.

"It's in here." I open the drawer on the other side, where the kitchen tools are.

"Glad you're here to help, Callie. Arizona doesn't know her way around her own kitchen." She laughs while taking the offered garlic presser. "She is a terrible cook."

"Actually she's getting better at it." I laugh with her. "We oftentimes cook together."

"You wouldn't know how surprise I was when she told me that she has cookware at home." Barbara grins wickedly. "I asked her to stop by the department store on the way from the airport to here, so I can get some pots and pans, making her home cooked meals in these few weeks. And she said it's not necessary. Now I know why."

I feel myself blush. I don't know she means the pots and pans, or the home cooked meals.

One time during our eat out, the conversation led to how much I like cooking but sometime it's a lot of work making dinner for one. And Arizona volunteered to join me whenever I feel like cooking. It's always better to cook for two than for one.

I wouldn't oppose the idea of spending time with her, of course.

We had dinner at my apartment a couple times. Mostly just the two of us, and Mark has joined in a time or two. That guy seems has a nose that can smell foods from a mile away. How could he know I was cooking through the doors separate our apartments? I have no idea.

After a while, Arizona said that she wants to help in the kitchen, wants to learn how to cook. The kitchen in my apartment isn't big enough for the two of us, so we make dinner in her house from then on. And that's why she has a complete range of cookware in here.

"It smells really good." I turn to the stove, avoiding Barbara's gaze and trying to change the subject. "What are you making?"

"It's chicken parmesan with a twist. I don't use breadcrumb coating and instead brush the chicken cutlets with fresh herb oil made from rosemary, thyme and parsley." She says proudly, and winks her eye at me. "My own recipe, and I'll write it down for you later."

"Oh, I can't take it. It's your family recipe." I decline quickly. I'm not really the girlfriend of her daughter's. I can't take her family recipe.

"Honey, I have no doubt that we're gonna be family." Barbara waves her hand, with a natural touch of fondness expressing in her tone of voice.

I open my mouth going to decline once again, but get distracted when a body pressing up against me on the back and a pair of hands wrap around my midsection from behind. I stiffen in the embrace.

"How are my two favorite girls doing?" Arizona asks, putting her chin on my shoulder.

Having Arizona hugging me so intimately, I feel as though a thousand tiny electric pulses are flying through my body from the spot where her hands rest. I'm too flustered to give a response. And Barbara is watching us with a broad smile.

"Chicken parmesan, pasta and garlic breads."

"Oh my favorite." Arizona exclaims ecstatically. Her body clings tighter to mine and sways from side to side slightly, bringing my body along with hers.

My heart is pounding like crazy. I wonder if she could feel it since she's so close to me.

"Yeah, and I'm going to teach Callie how to make it." Barbara turns around to put the tray of garlic breads into the oven, a mischievous smile on her lips that she doesn't even try to conceal. "Since this girl can get your lazy ass into the kitchen, maybe you can actually cook your own favorite dish for once."

"Nah, I'll have Calliope make it for me. Would you, babe?" Still wrapping her arms around me, Arizona tilts her head, looking at me with her smiling eyes. Her bright, beautiful, hypnotic blue eyes.

"Sure... babe..." I choke in my breath, and the pet name tumbles out of my mouth.

* * *

The dinner went on surprising pleasant. Surprise only to me because apparently this is how the Robbins' interact when they get together. Arizona and her mother would make some harmless jeers at one another, and Colonel would just look between them with an affectionate smile.

My nervousness of meeting Arizona's parents went away between the delicious dishes made by Barbara, the fine wine that was picked up by the Colonel, and the laughter that was induced by the mother and daughter. Barbara Robbins really is a doll. She even shared a few of young Arizona's silly stories on my benefit.

And Arizona seems not really mind. She adapted to the role as my girlfriend pretty naturally. She would touch my arm or hand when she knew that her parents were watching us, or she would have that magic smile on her face whenever we looked at each other. It's like having a perfect scene partner in a movie. She helped me ease into the character of Arizona Robbins' girlfriend easier.

And how I wish it's not just a character.

After dinner, I offered to clean the dishes. Arizona wanted to help but I sent her to the living room to be with her parents. Barbara and Colonel are staying for 3 weeks, but Arizona isn't going to take any day off before they take off together to San Diego. Any time they spend together is precious.

I walk into the living room to join them after I finished the cleaning. The parents are sitting on the big couch with the colonel in the middle, and Arizona is on the love seat with her legs up on the ottoman. I have two choices, either sitting next to the colonel on the 3-seater couch, or the empty one next to them.

Arizona gives me a third choice. She shifts in her seat, and then pats the empty space that she just produced. The universal signal of come over to sit in here.

I don't need to look at Barbara's face to know that she's watching me. I can not not to go sit with _my girlfriend_ at this point.

Stalking toward Arizona slowly, I have to take a series of deep breaths to calm my erratically beating heart. I can't believe this is happening.

I know she is testing my commitment to the promise that I have made to her. She gives me her sly, birdlike smile when I narrow my eyes at her. To make matter worse, she wraps her arms around me after I led back on the seat, pressing up against my side having her head on my shoulder. I don't know where to put my hands. The only option is to put one of my hands on her hip, and the other placing on her arm that is resting on my torso.

A soft sigh leaves her lips. She's pleased that I'm not going to blow our cover.

My eyes are gluing to the television screen, but my focus is on trying to control my breathing, willing my heart to calm down. And then my ears pick up the conversation on the other side of the living room.

"We need to get one of those chairs." Barbara says. I turn my head slightly to look at her, and she is talking to the colonel with a hand gesturing in my direction.

"Why?" Colonel asks.

"It looks really cozy." The mother purses her lips, still gazing at Arizona and me.

"What's wrong with our couch at home?" The colonel takes his eyes from the evening news program, looking at his wife.

"Don't you like to cuddle together?" We can hear the pout in Barbara's voice. Arizona lifts her head slightly, looking pass me to see what her mother's doing.

"We can cuddle on the couch." The father wraps an arm around Barbara's shoulder and pulls her closer to him.

Arizona has a grin on her face while she nuzzles her head on my shoulder again.

However, it seems the gentle gesture from the colonel isn't good enough.

"But it looks really cozy in a small chair like that, Daniel."

"Yeah, but don't forget that we're not flexible like those two anymore. Our old bones wouldn't survive 10 minutes cramming in that small chair." The colonel Daniel Robbins is a reticent man, but when he opens his mouth, his sense of humor is remarkable.

Both Arizona and I could no longer hold our giggles, and Barbara just groans aloud.

"Ah, how wonderful it is to be young and in love."

"What's wrong with old and still in love?" With a tender smile on his face, the colonel kisses his wife on her temple.

Listening to the conversation between the couple, Arizona snuggles up closer to me, and subconscious, I hold her tighter.

 _How wonderful it is to be old and still in love._

We remain in the same position for about an hour, talking and laughing about nothing and everything until the parents decided to call it the night.

"We're going to sleep now. You can change the channel if you want. Arizona doesn't like to watch the news." Barbara hands me the remote control after she got up from the couch. "I'll make breakfast tomorrow morning. Is blueberries pancakes okay for you, Callie?"

"Oh..." I look down at the face against my shoulder, and Arizona is looking back at me with her eyebrows raise, waiting for my answer. I thought that she has lined up a series of excuses for me. Luckily, I dimly remember one of them. "I have a very early shift tomorrow. I probably will be gone before you wake up."

"Okay then. Goodnight, girls." After exchanged our goodnights, the loving couple walk out of the living room hand in hand.

"Your parents really are in love." My eyes follow the parents until they're out of my sight.

"I told you, they're each other's soulmate." Arizona smiles softly. She takes the remote control from my hand.

"They truly are." I agree with her. My eyes watching the television screen as Arizona's flipping thought the channels.

Now the parents are not present, but it seems that Arizona have no intention of moving out from the love seat yet. So am I. It's too comfortable.

"Oh, Whitney Houston." Arizona exclaimed with a light laugh when she reached to the movie channel. And we say simultaneously.

"The bodyguard."

"Is it okay to watch this? I couldn't remember when the last time was that I watched this movie." She asks, and I nod my head. She puts down the control and wraps her arm around me again. "This is one of my favorites."

"This is my favorite too. I like everything about this movie." I say with a smile. Whitney's character starts to sing I have nothing, I don't even know my fingers are stroking her arm until she tilts her head to look at me.

"Except for the ending."

"What's wrong with the ending?" I frown at her. Yes, it was not a happy ending, but it was pretty realistic under that circumstance.

"Come on, they clearly love each other." Arizona rolls her eyes, saying matter-of-factly. "I don't understand why Frank would give it up."

"You can't call that love." I shrug a shoulder disagreeing with her. "Yes, they like each other, they have feelings for each other, but I wouldn't call that love."

"Why not? Didn't you see the kiss at the end?" She sits up slightly to look me in the face, raising an eyebrow challenging me. "No one would kiss someone like that if they don't love that person."

"You're such a romantic." I chuckle at her analysis. And she settles back down in my arms with a big smile on her face.

But we haven't got to the ending. Half way through the movie, Arizona is snoring softly against my chest. It's understandable consider that she went to pick up her parents very early in the morning. And being with an energetic mother like that, she must be very tired.

I start to get a strange feeling in my stomach. I feel content, absolute, blissful contentment like all my dreams have come true. Having Arizona in my arms, watch her sleeping peacefully with a smile on her angelic face. But five minutes later the reality of the situation hits. This is all an act, the closeness, the kissing, the cuddles.

Slowly and carefully, I retract my arm from under her, slipping off of the love seat as light as I can try not to startle her. Placing the blanket on top of her, I stood there watching her for another minute. Finally, I press my fingers tips against my lips, and then gently put them on her forehead, silently saying a goodnight before walking out from the front door.

* * *

A/N 2: The bodyguard is a great movie, seriously, watch it if you haven't yet.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.

A/N : Once again, thank you all for the support and love.  
All mistakes are mine.

* * *

Frankly, I didn't plan to spend much time with the Robbins'. The least we see the others, the least they'd figure out Arizona and I are not really together.

However, I find myself couldn't resist it when Arizona comes to me before the end of the shift, asking if I'd go home with her. I long for the warmth of the Robbins parents, and I long for the warmth of Arizona's touches.

Before I know it, four nights in this week I was in Arizona's house, dining with her parents, and having a little family time in the living room with Arizona and me cuddling up in the love seat. I'd leave after Barbara and the colonel went upstairs. Once I even managed to sneak back in the house before dawn, in order to have breakfast with them.

Tonight Arizona decided to release her mother from the kitchen duty, bringing the parents to our favorite restaurant. Which is perfect, it's Mark birthday today, I can probably still catch him for a drink at Joe's bar after dinner.

"Hey, they put the gnocchi di ricotta back on the menu." Arizona says happily when she opens the menu and sees her beloved dish is listed on it.

"How could they not to?" I cast a sidelong glance at her, half jokingly. "You should see the pout on your face when you whined about that to the poor waitresses, two times."

"Me? You were the one who went into the kitchen demanding a talk with the chef." She puts down the menu, batting her eyelashes at me with an innocent smile.

"How could I not to? You really should see the pout on your face." I lift a finger tapping her nose playfully. She scrunches her face to a grimace before grasps my hand, and then rests our hands on the table with hers covering mine.

It feels so natural now for us to act like this. I still have that familiar tingle I get whenever Arizona touches me radiates through my body. In the back of my mind, I know very well that this part of our relationship isn't real, and I could feel those cracks in my heart break a little more... Nevertheless, I am going to embrace the time being the woman that Arizona's in love with.

Our waitress comes to serve our drinks. And when she pours the wine into my glass, I give her the instruction to just fill half of the glass.

"I have to drive." I explain to my dining companions.

"Oh honey, don't worry about that." Barbara turns to her husband. "Maybe we should hire a lyft or uber afterward? Callie deserves a few drinks tonight."

"No no, it's okay." I wave my free hand. "I'm going to meet a friend for drinks after I sent you guys home."

"Who?" Arizona asks.

"Mark, it's his birthday." I sip my water, giving her a soft smile.

"Oh, okay." Arizona flips the pages of the menu by the hand that was on top of mine.

Drinks are served, foods are served, our conversations flows easily as usual. The Robbins really has never run out of things to talk.

"I have Nick on the phone today. He's going to Uncle Ted's party alone." Barbara fills in her daughter regarding the party that is going to hold in less than 2 weeks.

"Mom..." Arizona sighs, not even looking up from her salad.

"What? I am just saying." The mother looks around the table, doesn't know that she has just hit a nerve.

"I know you, mother." Drawing in a deep breath, Arizona put down her cutlery, giving her mother a somewhat forced smile. Involuntary, I put my hand on her knee. When she looks at me, I can see that her expression softens and a real smile stretches his lips.

"Hey young lady, you know I don't like it when you call me that." Barbara protests jocosely. "Besides, I wanted you and Nick to get together because I didn't know you have Callie. I just want you to be happy."

"I am happy." Arizona says, keeping her eyes on me, she puts her hand on top of mine that is resting on her knee. Her intense blue eyes seem to bore into my soul. I feel myself blush, breaking our eye contact and reaching for my glass of water with my free hand, trying to cover up my embarrassment.

"I can see that." Barbara seems happy with the act that we just played in front of her. She shares a smile with the colonel and then turns to us again. "So... have you two thought about, you know, getting married someday? Maybe soon?"

"Mother!" Arizona cries out. And I choke on the water and splash half of the glass all over my dress.

"Arizona..." The colonel gives his daughter a warning look, but Arizona doesn't pay much attention on him. She is busy rubbing my back and wiping off the water on my chest with her napkin. I halt her hand between coughs. I'm sure my face is red as a tomato.

"Oh Callie, Honey, are you okay?" I can hear the concern in Barbara's voice, but I couldn't bring my eyes to look at her, or anyone on the table. I just nod my head, concentrating on rearranging the drenched tableware.

"Fine, mom." Arizona placed the napkin back on her laps. From the corner of my eye, I can see that Barbara is smiling at her daughter with sparkle in her eyes, expecting a follow up. "Okay, we haven't talked about that yet, but..."

Arizona turns to me, and our eyes locked on like magnets. There's a strange light in those blue eyes that I don't know what it is. I just know that my heart is beating so hard that I can barely hear anything around us, except for the voice of Arizona's.

"If Calliope wants to spend the rest of her life with me, yeah, I don't see why not?"

"Oh Daniel!" Barbara exclaims to the colonel, I guess. My eyes are still captured by the pair of gorgeous sapphire before me. And I dimly hear another question. "And children?

"Two... or three?" Not taking her eyes away from me, Arizona smiles.

"Two or three?" I breathe out, not realize that I was holding my breath.

"I know how much you like kids. I'd like to see you carrying our child. And I can see that down the road, I'd want to carry our child for you." There's a ghost of mischievous smile on her face. "And you know with the exta hormones that we're gonna take, the chance of multiple pregnancies is pretty high. So, two or three is about right."

"You... you really have thought about it?" My eyes flick between her eyes and her lips, they are moving closer to my face.

"Of course, babe." Quick like a flash, she pecks on my lips. Before I can react, she already pulled away.

Barbara is grinning from ear to ear, and the colonel has the biggest smile on his face that I've ever seen in the last few days. The mother opens her mouth wanting to say something, but Arizona holds up a finger interrupting her.

"Don't ask me when and don't give us any pressure. Calliope and I are dating for just a few months. Let us enjoy this a little longer before going to the next phase of our lives, okay?"

 _Of course she has thought about it._ Arizona knew that her mother is going to ask this kind of questions, of course she has already prepared a model answer. Or else, how could she blurt out something like this in a snap of fingers?

I shouldn't be overjoyed because this is just a part of the act, the act to convince Arizona's parents that they don't have to worry about their daughter. And they don't need to force Nick on her.

And I shouldn't be upset because I already knew what I got myself into when I promised to do it.

With big effort, Arizona is able to divert the topic of conversation to something other than our relationship. Despite the little moment that has taken my breath away, this is another pleasant evening. We talk a lot, we laugh a lot, and we drink a lot. By the end of the dinner, the four of us have finished two bottles of wine. With me only have 2 half glasses, the Robbins family consumes most of them.

Arizona is a light weight, Barbara is even worse. When the car pulls into Arizona's driveway, the mother is so tipsy that can't even stand straight. The colonel gives me a quick goodnight before carrying his drunken wife back to the house.

I look to the other side of the car, Arizona is lingering by the passenger door, giving me a silly smile like a cheshire cat. She is so drunk.

"Are you okay?" I walk around the car, standing in front of her asking with concern.

Still have her lips spread wide, Arizona wrapping her arms around my neck. The suddenness of her whole body pressing up against me makes me tumble backward. My hands fly to her waist in reflex, and I lean my back on the side of the car to regain our balance.

"I'm more than okay." She giggles into my neck and I feel a shudder running though my body. And she lifts her head, gazing at me with her hooded eyes. "Kiss me."

"What?" It takes me a second to really recognize her words.

"Kiss me." She slurs between giggles. "My mom is watching us."

"I doubt that. Your mother can hardly keep her eyes open." I look over to the house, the lights are on and the curtains are down, but I'm pretty sure the parents are already in bed.

"You don't want to kiss me?" The smile on her face replaces by a pout, matching with her unfocused eyes, she is so adorable... It takes me a great deal of self-control to not comply with her request.

"Not when you're drunk. You should go get some sleep. Do you want me to help you inside?" I gently nudge her backward with my hands, but she grounds her hips further into mine, keeping me trap between her and the car.

"Are you going to tuck me in bed?" She tilts her head smiling suggestively.

"If you want me to." I joke.

"I want you to. And I want you to get in bed with me..." Arizona laughs and says in one breath, only breaking by an uncontrollable hiccup. "...with much less clothes."

One of her hands drifts down from my neck, along the lapel of my jacket. She tugs it lightly implying to take it off. She's always a little flirtatious when she is drunk. Good thing that she probably wouldn't remember it tomorrow.

"God, you are really drunk." I chuckle to myself. "Not tonight, okay? I'm going to meet with Mark. I've told you, it's his birthday."

"Of course." She puts her hand back behind my neck, burying her face into my shoulder. We stand there with her body firmly pressing against mine, and my arms wrap around her waist for a while. I thought that she has fallen asleep on me until she mumbles against my neck. "I don't understand."

"You don't understand what?" I lower my head, trying to look into her face.

"Mark. He is an idiot." She sighs. I can hear the frustration in her voice. She really dislikes that man. Even in her drunken status, she remembers that he is an idiot.

"He really is an idiot, what not to understand?" I throw my head back with a belly laugh. But Arizona doesn't find it as amusing as I am, it seems.

"I don't understand how he can go for a 6..." She pulls back slightly, narrowing her eyes looking skyward for a brief second. "Okay, little Grey can be a 7 at best. But you, Calliope, you are a 10! A perfect 10!"

"I'm not a 10, Arizona." I shake my head slightly disagreeing with her, but there's a huge smile on my face that I couldn't hide even if I tried to. I know that she is drunk, and she's saying this because I'm her friend, it still gives a tingle in my heart hearing those from her lips.

"Yes, you are!" She's practically stamping her feet. "You're perfect, inside and out. You are generous, kind, intelligent, compassionate... not to mention you are gorgeous and hot... so, so very hot..."

She trails off with her face nuzzling up to my neck, slowly moving up to my cheek...

"You really think so?" Second times tonight that she makes my heart skipping a beat.

"Yeah... any man would be lucky to have you as their girlfriend, or wife." She breathes out against the corner of my lips. I can feel her warm breath on my skin. "You shouldn't be waiting for that idiot."

"I'm not waiting for Mark. We are just friend." I whisper back.

"You'd have fooled me." She drops her head back on my shoulder, and her fingers playing with the hair on my nape.

"Mark is not the one that I want, Arizona." I close my eyes, burying my nose into her hair, trying very hard to control my rapid heartbeat. I could feel my heart beating, every single pound in my chest. I wonder if Arizona could feel it too.

"Who is he?" Her voice has sunk almost to a whisper.

 _You. You are the one that I want, Arizona._

I say it in my head.

Another pregnant silence passes, we just stand there wrapping into each other's arms. Sensing that I am not going to give her an answer, Arizona pulls back, looking deep into my eyes.

"Fine, but just remember you're mine now." She kisses me full on my lips. "Don't even think about letting anyone else kiss these lips tonight."

She gives me another quick peck before I can say anything. And then she walks unsteadily toward the house without a glance, shuts the door and leaves a very confused me staring at the closed door.

Finally I get into my car, stepping on the gas hoping to get to Joe's as quick as possible. I really need a drink.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.

A/N : Once again, thank you all for the support and love.  
All mistakes are mine.

* * *

Arizona and I haven't talked about that night. She probably doesn't remember our conversation or is too embarrassed to bring it up. I'd put her action down to the wine, although I'm still feeling dazed and confused about her behavior.

Besides, we don't really have the chance to talk. We have conflicted schedules in the last few days. Either she's working late or I had long surgeries that occupied my nights. I haven't seen the Robbins parents since that night out.

"Your knee is healing well, Mr. Castillo." I flick the switch of the light box, showing the newly taken scans of my patient's knee. "We are going to schedule the PT for you to regain the strength of your leg."

"The incision is a bit swollen thought. Nothing to worry about, I'm going to increase the dose of antibiotics. It should be able to control the infection." Mark says between examining the patient.

I instruct my resident to wrap up the scans before heading out of the room when I hear a familiar laugh from the hallway. And yes, there they are, Arizona's parents standing by the nurse station talking to one of my nurses.

"Hey Callie, honey." Barbara gives me an enthusiastic wave when she sees me walking toward them. As soon as I'm in front of her, she pulls me into a warm motherly hug.

"Hi Barbara." I say in her arms, and then greet the father with a less intimate but still friendly hug. "Hi Colonel, what are you doing in here?"

"We haven't seen you for days, and Arizona said that you're on night shift tonight, so Barbara makes lunch and bring it to you." The colonel smiles whilst holding up the bags in his hand.

"Oh okay." I nod. "Does Arizona know that you're here?"

"Not yet. We were still looking for the Peds floor, but then the elevator stopped in here, we come to you first." Barbara says with her usual enthusiasm, and she picks up one of my hand patting it fondly.

"Oh okay." I nod again. And then I turn to the nurse behind the station. "Jenny, can you page Dr. Robbins?"

"Already did, Dr. Torres." Jenny answers. I don't know how long the Robbins parents have arrived, and I don't know what they have told the nurse, but the smile she gives to me is kinda weird.

"Callie, I know you are busy. We're just going to leave the foods here. You and Arizona can eat it whenever you have time." The colonel gives me an understanding smile, handing me the bags and I take it immediately.

"No, it's okay. I can use a break anyway." I glance at my watch, it's almost noon. "We can eat at the attending's lounge, but I'll have to quickly check with a patient first."

"Do I hear lunch?" A voice comes behind him. Oh shoot...

I whip my head around and meet with Mark's trademark smirk, but it is not directed at me.

"You must be Mr. and Mrs. Robbins. I've heard from Arizona that you're in town." Mark reaches his hand exchanging hand shakes with Barbara and the colonel. They look at him with curiosity.

"Hello, and you are...?" The colonel asks.

"This is Mark Sloan. He's a Plastic surgeon." I step aside, introducing the intruder to Arizona's parents.

"Head of the department. And friend of Arizona." He corrects me with a smile. "I've worked with her on quite a lot of cases. She's a really talented surgeon. It's so great to have her in the team."

"Thank you." Hearing the praise of her daughter, Barbara smiles beamingly. "And I'm glad that Arizona has made some friends in here."

"Oh yeah, we are good friends, especially after she and Callie get together. I have never seen two people so in love." Mark puts a hand on my shoulder, keeping his excessive grin to the Robbins'. "Ain't these crazy kids perfect for each together?"

Barbara and the colonel, and Jenny are smiling from ear to ear. I hope they don't see my frenzied glare darting at the tall man.

"Mark, don't you have to go talk to the patient in room 2124 before he can be discharged?"

"Yeah Yeah, I should go..." Mark shoves his hands in the white coat pockets, makes no intention of moving his ass. And his eyes linger on the bags in my hand.

"Dr. Sloan, do you want to join us for lunch? We've more than enough if you don't mind." Barbara prompts. Apparently the charming man is already on her good side.

"Oh course I don't mind, Mrs. Robbins. Callie told me that you're an amazing cook." Mark shamelessly spreads his lips to a sugary smile. "I'll be there after I dealt with the patient."

I let out a sigh after Mark finally left us, for now.

* * *

"I'm telling you, Mark. Keep your mouth shut." I warn the man as we walk toward the attending's lounge. Arizona came to my floor picking up her parents shortly after Mark walked away. She was going to show them around the Peds floor first since I still need some times to finish my work. They should be in the lounge by now. "Arizona was mad that I told you about this whole girlfriend thing. I don't want you to piss her off even more by saying something stupid."

"Hey, I did good, didn't I?" Mark puts a hand on his chest exclaiming innocently. "I told them that you two are crazily in love."

"Yeah, but just... eat your lunch and go. Don't say anything more than you should." I give him one more warning glare before opening the door.

"Hey Calliope... oh, Sloan." Arizona's face changes from smile to frown in a split second. I know I should lock up Mark in a storage room instead of letting him follow me.

"We asked Mark to join us. Your mother makes enough of foods to feed the whole hospital." The colonel chins in, holding a handful of plates that he gets from the cabinet. I rush over to help him.

"And I couldn't decline such a lovely invitation." Mark sits down by the table, grinning broadly at the mother and daughter who are setting down the food containers.

If a glare can kill, I'd be helping Arizona hiding Mark's body right now.

Fortunately, the frown between her brows loose up once we sit around enjoying the delicious foods that Barbara prepared for us. Mark can be a jerk but when he turns on his charm, even the steely veteran couldn't resist it. No wonder Lexie said that her father is really fond of her boyfriend.

"Oh, you really should go to Mt Rainier National Park. It's beautiful there in this time of the year. The breathtaking view of snow covered mountains and Alpines reaching high nearly touching the sky..." Mark says between mouthfuls of lasagna, talking like a tour guide. "Believe me, this tour is totally worth it."

"It sounds wonderful. We always enjoy a good hike." The colonel smiles to his wife. "We can find a day..."

"Make it overnight." Mark interjects, giving the colonel a subtle wink. "There are some good inns in the neighborhood. You wouldn't regret it."

"What do you think, Arizona?" The father asks.

"Yeah, it should be fun." Arizona answers absentmindedly. "I haven't been in there yet, but I think you and mom will like it."

Arizona is kinda off, I can sense that. Probably bother by Mark being here with her parents, worrying that the indiscreet man is going to say something blowing our cover.

When she leaves the table to get something from the fridge, I follow her.

"I'm sorry." I say in a whisper, having my back to the rest of the people in the room.

"For what?" She looks at me with widen eyes, studying my face closely.

"Mark. He saw your parents earlier and..." I shrug a shoulder and sigh, still saying in a lower voice so no one else can hear me. "I shouldn't let him come to join us."

"No, Calliope. It's not your fault." Her eyes flicker past me to the table. Mark just says something funny and the parents are laughing with him. "I should be the one apologize."

"About...?" I squint at her and swallow hard. What does she has to apologize for?

"I've promised you that my parents wouldn't come to the hospital." Arizona twists his lips to a force smile. "For what it is worth, they haven't really talked to anyone. So no one would..."

Oh, this is what that's in her mind.

"Hmm... they talked to Jenny," I recall the moment that I found her parents. "Earlier."

"Ortho nurse Jenny?" Her brows knit together.

"Yeah." I nod my head. "And she gave me this strange smile..."

"Shit, so by now half of the people in the hospital are gonna think that we're dating." A wry smile spreads over her face. She puts a hand on my arm. "I'll make it right, I promise."

"Look at those two. They can hardly keep their hands to themselves." Mark raises his voice drawing the attention to us. The colonel and Barbara turn around, smiling sweetly to Arizona and me.

Arizona takes back her hand like I was burning her. A faint flush suffuses her cheeks that I have rarely seen.

"Yeah." Barbara nods her agreement. "And I have never seen my daughter this happy."

"Callie's too. Arizona is good to her, you know." The man who claims to be my best friend says as if I am not in the room. He eyes flash in mischief. "Much better than her last girlfriend."

I gasp. No! He wouldn't...

"Last girlfriend?" Arizona raises her eyebrows. She leans closer in order to whisper in my ear. "Jeez, the stupid is making stuff up now?"

How I wish he is.

I believe all my bleed drain from my face. My mouth's open but nothing comes out...

But I don't have to say anything. The thunderstruck look on her face tells me that she realizes that Mark isn't joking.

"You..." She stares at me, then turns to Mark. "You know about her last girlfriend?"

"Yeah, Hanh." The bastard shrugs a shoulder. He says after taking a sip of water. "You remember the visiting Cardio surgeon when Altman was on leave? She was here not long after you started to work in here."

"Hanh... Erica Hanh?" Arizona puts her gaze back at me, inhaling a sharp breath. "You and Erica Hanh? Why didn't I know that?"

"I... I..." I should say something but I couldn't. My mind is in turmoil. This is not how I want Arizona to find it out.

Erica and I dated for a very short time. It all started when the perky Peds surgeon showed up in this hospital. She caught my attention from time to time, giving me the butterflies that I have never had with any one... I didn't know what that was.

I know people can be bi-sexual, but am I?

Erica wasn't supposed to be my experiment... I know this is irresponsible to say it like that but, she was there. When she asked me out, I gave it a shot. And I found it no difference of dating men. I enjoyed her company, her intelligence, her caring, her soft lips... Sex wasn't so bad either.

Our so-called relationship lasted for only 2 months. She wanted more from me but I was not able to give her. Deep down, she wasn't the one that I want.

When Arizona and I became close friends, I should have told her about this. I know. Of course I know. I just didn't know how to bring it up. And the longer I stalled, the harder to find the chance to.

And now, I screw up.

NO! Scratch it. Mark screws it up for me.

"Arizona," Barbara must have sense the tension between us and comes to my rescue. "Everyone has their past. I'm sure you haven't told Callie about Carly."

"Oh, what about Carly?" Mark asks chirpy, like he doesn't know that he just fucked up my life.

"Mom! Can we talk about something else?" Arizona grinds out the words between clenched teeth, a frigid tone that I have never heard her saying to her mother, or to anyone.

She goes back to the chair without a glance at me, and I follow her without looking at anyone.

The lunch continues under an awkward atmosphere. Mark and the Robbins parents carry out the conversation about places to see and things to do in Seattle, I keep stabbing the lasagna in my plate, and Arizona... I don't know, I don't dare to lift my eyes from my plate.

Finally, the torture comes to an end. After helping clean up everything, I say goodbye with the parents outside the door of the attending's lounge. And Arizona still hasn't given me even a glare.

Barbara gives me a tight hug before following her daughter toward the elevator, and Mark is heading to the other direction going back to work. I grasp the back of his white coat pulling him back to the attending's lounge forcefully. I start to yell at him as soon as the door closed behind us.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Mark?"

"Huh?" He straightens his white coat, looking at me innocently. How dare of him acting all innocent?

"Erica! Why the hell would you bring up Erica?!" My fists convulse in suppressed rage.

His face creases in a knowing smile that fumes me even more.

"This is not funny!" I yell again. "You know very well that Arizona didn't know about her!"

"Hey, first of all, I implied that you present _girlfriend_ is better than your last girlfriend. That's what you two wanted, right? Making her parents think that you two are seriously together?" The man picks up an apple from the table, rubbing it up and down his sleeve before taking a bite. "And by the way, why haven't you told blondie about Erica?"

"You know why!" I scream in exasperation.

"I know you haven't told her, but you never say why you haven't told her." He blinks at me, wearing that irritating smirk again.

I open my mouth about to yell some more, but I find myself speechless.

"What's the point? She doesn't want me anyway." I slumped in the chair with my head down.

"How do you know?" He asks.

"You know her type." I glanced up to the ceiling and sigh. "Remember that hot Italian super model we saw that came to pick her up?"

"Hot Italian super model?" He squints at me, and then an expression of dumb recognition wiggling across his face. "You mean the OB from Seattle Presbyterian."

"Yeah, whatever." I run my hands through my hair. "Even you said that she was hot."

"And you're much hotter, and sexier." He waggles his eyebrows, trying to be funny. I just twist my mouth in a contemptuous sneer.

"Yeah."

"Sometimes you wish people would just see themselves the way you do." He says to himself, then asks me a question. "What do you think why she got so angry?"

"Because I kept that from her, or..." I shrug my shoulders, and then it hits me. "Do you think that she dated Erica too? That's why she was angry? That I dated the woman... No! Do you think Erica was dating the both of us at the same time?"

"I don't think the wicked witch of the west is her type." He breaks into a laugh, like it is an absurd idea that Arizona and Erica was even a thing.

"Then why?" I frown at him, asking hopelessly.

"You should go talk to Robbins." Mark stands up from the chair, pats my shoulder and then walks out of the room.

And that is what I am doing, arriving in the Peds floor hoping to have a talk with her.

As I walk down the hallway, just in time to see Arizona getting out from a patient's room. She sees me and then turns to the opposite direction abruptly. I lengthen my strides to keep up with her.

"Arizona..." I say her name, following behind her like a beaten puppy. Finally, she stops and turns around.

"Do you need a consult, Dr. Torres?" She plasters on a fake smile that makes me draw in a sharp breath.

"No, but..." I stammer out. "Can we talk?"

"Sorry, Dr. Torres. I'm busy." She tugs the corner of her lips to a somewhat forced smile. Before she turns away, I grasp her wrist.

"Just... give me a minute, okay?" Before she shuts me down again, I pull her into an on-call room near to us.

"What do you want, Callie." Arizona walks deeper into the room, looking at me with her back against the window.

I flinch, physically. She has never called me Callie.

"I know I should have... I should have told you about me and Erica sooner." I hold my hands before me, fidgeting with my fingers. "I just... I don't know how to bring it up."

"Sloan made it pretty easy." Her voice is thick with insinuation.

"Because he is Sloan." I roll my eyes dramatically, hoping to coax a chuckle from her. But she just crosses her arms against her chest with stone cold face. I sigh. "It's difficult for me."

"I came out to my parents and my brother, don't tell me what is difficult." She spits out the words with contempt. Apparently, I have a tendency of putting my foot in my mouth in front of her.

"I am sorry." I slam my eyes shut, swallowing thickly trying to gather my thoughts. "I know you're mad that I haven't told you..."

"Yeah, right. I am mad." Her eyes flashed with anger and resentment, cutting me off brutally. "Do you know what makes me even madder? I have to hear that from Sloan! Mark Sloan!"

"He meant well. I mean, you know him. He just..." Once again I stammer out my reasoning, and once again she doesn't let me finish.

"He wanted to rub it on my face, Callie!" It is like my every word only fueling the fire that burns inside of her. Her mouth curls with annoyance. "He wanted to show me that he knows things about you that I don't! He wanted to show me that he is your best friend."

"Arizona, it's not like that. You are my best friend too!" I say hurriedly.

"And you kept a secret from me!" Arizona's voice crackled with anger. "And the worst of it, you had no problem of telling Sloan!"

"I didn't mean to tell him. He just saw through me and figured it out. And then we talked..." I trail off as my gaze drops to the floor.

"Of course, he is Sloan! He gets you! He gets the straight you! He gets the gay you! He gets your secrets!" A vein popped out in her neck and her eyes are red-rimmed from rage. "What do I get?"

My mouth opens, but it wouldn't work. I'm on the brink of tears. Seeing her so angry, knowing that I am the cause of it, I find myself hard to breathe.

"You know what?" She fixes her piercing gaze at me, mouth tightens in a stubborn line when I couldn't give her an answer. "We are not in high school. I don't have to fight to be your friend. If you don't think it's worth it, there's nothing I can do."

My body stiffened at the remark. She doesn't give me any time to react to that. She walks pass me to the door, flinging it open and storming off without a second glance.

I feel the whole world collapsing upon me.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.

A/N : Thank you for the love.  
All mistakes are mine.

* * *

Seattle Grace Mercy West hospital is a big hospital, I know that. I just don't know how big it actually is until I haven't seen Arizona for three days.

Three whole days, and nights.

During the days, she was no where to be 'bumped into'. She was in the building, I was sure. I just couldn't reach her. When I got a page from the pit for a Peds consult, I was ecstatic. But my heart sunk when I arrived there and realized Arizona had passed the patient onto Karev's care in the last minute.

And she had a night shift, and a marathon surgery that lasted until midnight, I had no reason to drop by her house in the evenings...

And now, staring at the tablet on my desk, I can see that her last surgery was ended about an hour ago. She could be at home, being with her parents by now.

I feel like crying. I miss her present. I miss her laughs. I miss her smile. I miss her touches... I miss her.

Resting my elbows on the desk, my head in my hands, I let out a long, frustrated breath. I need to fix it, but I can't do anything while she keeps avoiding me.

Knock. Knock.

My eyes look upwards through my frowning brows, staring at the door when it opens slowly. Pretty sure it's gonna be Mark coming to mock my misery once again. My jaw drops when I see who is there standing outside my office.

"Hey." Arizona gives me a taut smile. I have to blink a couple times to find my tongue.

"Hey."

It's like the very first time that we came face to face in the elevator all over again. She gave me a simple greeting, and I was too nervous to respond.

"I... I'm about to head home." The corners of her lips quirks up to an awkward smile.

"Arizona, can we... can we talk?" I shot up from the chair. I don't know why she's here, but I know that I need to grasp this chance. "I mean, let me explain to you?"

"I know you may not want to," She says, ignoring my questions. "My parents asked about you. They want to know if you will come over for dinner tonight."

"Do you want me to?" I raise my eyebrows, staring at her hopefully. But she seems to have found something far more interesting on the floor. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable, Arizona."

"So you don't want to come..." She purses her lips and nods her head slowly. "I understand. I'll tell them..."

"No Arizona, wait!" I reach out my hand, blurting out before she turns to leave. "I'd like to go to have dinner with you... your parents."

"Callie, you don't have to." A skeptical expression comes over her face. "I get it. After all, I was being..."

"Arizona, I've made a promise to you." I cut her off, reminding her of the agreement, the promise that I have made with my best friend. I'm not going to break it. "I'll show up at your house as your beloved girlfriend."

"Are you sure?" She narrows her eyes at me, and a ghost of smile playing around her lips.

"My shift will be finished in about an hour, then I'll be there." I nod firmly.

1 hour and 20 minutes later, I'm in my car, a street corner away from Arizona's house, staring at it with my mind running like crazy.

What was I thinking? Arizona is obliviously still mad at me. Her parents want to see me so she has no choice but invite me over. I should have told her to make an excuse to explain why I couldn't be in there tonight, or the rest of their stay.

And I'm pretty sure this night is gonna be awkward. She could hardly look at her outside my office, how can she hug me or touch me or... even kiss me like we have done in front of her parents in the last week?

I shouldn't put her in that position. But...

Tap. Tap.

I jump when someone quietly tapping on my car window. Looking to the passenger side, it is the colonel smiling at me through the window. I unlock the door and he slips in.

"Hi colonel." I smile back at him. "Why are you here?"

"They are preparing dinner, so I take a walk in the neighborhood." The smile on his face fades subtly, fixing me a solemn fatherly look. "And I can ask you the same question, why are you still here, Callie?"

"I... uh..." I wet my lips, thinking that he doesn't want me there to upset his daughter further more. "Arizona... uh... she... uh... dinner..."

"I know you're coming home for dinner, Callie. I just don't understand why you're in here, instead of there." He points his finger at Arizona's house, where is just less than 20 meters away from where we are sitting right now.

I stare blankly out at the windscreen ahead of me.

"I know my daughter, Callie. She can be quite scary sometimes." The colonel laughs, and I'm stunned by his remark. "Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter. She is just hopelessly headstrong, like her mother."

I manage to give him a tight lips smile.

"And even they know that they were wrong, they wouldn't admit it, well, verbally." He shrugs his shoulder with a dry smile. "It was like pulling teeth to get Arizona to say that she was sorry when she broke Timmy's bicycle."

I listen quietly as the colonel continues.

"She believes action is louder than words. That's why she broke her own piggy bank to pay for the repair. And that's why she's in the kitchen making dinner with Barbara right now." He winks his eye expressively.

"She's in the kitchen?" My eyebrows rise to my forehead. She has joked that she would never cook with her mother because apparently Barbara is a control freak in the kitchen. Well, according to the couple times that we spent in there, she does like things to be done in a certain way. Her way.

"What do you think why I need this walk?" The colonel laughs again. "They were arguing the whole time. All I'd hear was - that's not how Calliope likes it."

"She's making dinner for me?" My eyes open wide in surprise.

"She was like a bear with a sore head for days, Callie. I know the smile on her face when she returned home today wasn't for Barbara or me." He says teasingly. "And I'm absolutely sure that she's not making dinner for neither the two of us."

I have tried, but there's no way I can conceal the big smile on my face.

"She loves you, Callie. And I can tell that you love her too. I don't really know what you two are fighting about, but just don't let it standing between the two of you." He pats the dash board twice gesturing. "Now come on, pull the car into the driveway. I'm dying to taste my daughter's cooking even thought it's not for me."

The colonel gets out of the car as soon as we stopped in front of the house. He wraps an arm around my shoulders, steering me up the steps and through the front door.

"Arizona, Callie's here." He yells into the kitchen, and then disappears off into the living room.

As I stand by the door alone, the giddying feeling that I had earlier vanished completely. Colonel was saying all those nice things because he believed that Arizona and I is a couple and we're in love with each other. It just means that we have done a good job convincing him.

My gaze drifts to the photos that Arizona puts on top of a small cabinet opposite to the front door. Those are photos of her parents, her brother Tim in uniform, a few of relatives that I don't know, and a newly additional one with the two of us. It was taken outside her house the night before her parents arrived.

In the photo, we were cheek to cheek, smiling like without a care in the world because we were in each other's arms.

But this is not real. My heart hurts thinking all this will be ended once the parents returned to their home.

My heart hurts even more, knowing that I don't just going to lose my fake girlfriend. I probably have already lost my best friend.

"Hey, babe." Arizona appears from the kitchen bringing me sharply out of my thoughts. She casts a quick glance back inside then takes the few steps toward me.

"Hey babe..." Before I'm aware of it, I'm calling her by the pet name and leaning forward, a habit that we have developed when we're around her parents. Just when my lips about to touch hers, I catch the surprise on her face. Quickly, I twist my neck slightly, landing the peck on the corner of her lips instead.

"Glad you're here." A pink blush spreads across her cheeks. She seems feeling uneasy with my forwardness.

"I've promised you, haven't I?" I let out an odd chuckle, trying to cover my embarrassment.

She fidgets with the front of the apron that she's wearing. There's a weird tension between us that either of us know how to break it.

"So, I've heard that you're making dinner?" I shove my hands in my pockets, shifting my feet nervously.

"Well, mom does most of the work." She smiles sheepishly. "Mom is in the kitchen, you wanna come say hi?"

"Of course." I smile back and follow her into the kitchen.

Like always, Barbara pulls me into a hug once she saw me. And I smell a nice tantalizing aroma of citrus filling the air.

"It smells good, what are you making?" I peek over to the stove, Barbara is stirring the sauce in the pan and I think I know what that is.

"Chicken piccata. Arizona said this is your favorite." Barbara gives me a meaningful smile.

I steal a glance at the quiet blonde. Once again, she's fidgeting with her apron.

Chicken piccata is not my favorite dish, but that was the first dish that I made with Arizona.

"I was going to use cognac to give a richer favor, but Arizona insisted on using white wine. She said that was how you make it." Barbara says that purposely. She doesn't even hide the worry on her face when she looks between the two of us.

"Yeah," I walk closer to stand next to Arizona and wrap an arm around her waist, making sure that Barbara can see my hand. I turn my face to look deeply into Arizona's blue eyes. "That was how we made it the last time."

Her body stiffens briefly and locks her eyes with mine. It seems my move has caught her off guard. Normally she's the one initiate the touches but this time, I'm the one holding her. I'm doing this for Barbara, but if this night is going to be the last time that I can be this close with Arizona, I am going to hold her as long as I am allowed.

"Yeah." She gives me a timid little smile, but doesn't take her gaze away.

"Okay kids. Dinner's ready." Barbara says and I can hear the smile in her voice, don't know is because the foods can be served, or the affection between Arizona and I that is displaying before her.

The four of us sit around the table enjoying this nice dinner. Arizona and I takes turn to talk about our days and the parents tell us their adventures around Seattle. We have tried our best to act normal but the awkwardness among us is too thick to be broken. It doesn't take a genius to see that Arizona is quieter than usual, and kinda withdrawn. She does smile to me from time to time, but the smile never really reaches her eyes.

Is she still so mad that she can't even sit for an hour pretending that we're having a good time?

I collect the tableware and bring them to the kitchen after we finished eating. It has become a routine that Barbara makes the dinner, and I'd do the cleaning while the Robbins family hangs around in the living room. Tonight, Arizona offers to help with the dishes.

"You don't have to, Arizona." I say softly when she puts the dirty dishes into the sink. "You should go relax with your parents."

"No, it's fine." She reaches for the dishwashing detergent and pours it over the sponge, focusing her eyes on the plates as she started cleaning.

We work together in silence. She passes me the ones that she has done, and I rinse them off and then put them on the rack. Occasionally I'd take a furtive glance at her. Her brows furrow in concentration beneath the lower eyelids, her lips bite to a thin line and her jaws clinches.

I shouldn't put her in this position.

"You know, your parents have totally brought the idea that we're a couple." I sigh after she handed me the last plate. "I think my job here is done."

"What do you mean?" She speaks to me the first time since we started cleaning the dishes side by side 10 minutes ago.

"For the rest of their stay, you can tell them that I have to work late... or you can even tell them that I'm out of town for a conference. It'd stop them from asking me to come joining you guys." I tug the corner of my mouth to a small smile, staring at the swirl of water in the sink through a mist of tears. Maybe it's for the best.

"You want to end this?" She's looking at me, but I can't bring my eyes to meet with hers.

"You seem uncomfortable that I'm here." I chew the inside of my mouth, blinking back the tears. She doesn't need to see my cry. "I told you, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable, especially at your own home."

"Calliope, I'm uncomfortable not because you're here. I want you here." She turns around, leaning against the sink and groans. "Ugh! I... I just don't know how to tell you how bad I feel for... you know, overreacting the other day."

"You do?" I snap my head staring at her. The colonel's words from earlier ring through my head, Arizona doesn't do apologize well.

"You don't owe me any explanation, Calliope." She tilts her head upward, heaving a long sigh. "You have every right not to tell me things that you don't want me to know. There's not my place to be angry or... well, yell at you."

"I wasn't trying to keep that from you, Arizona. It's just..." I want to tell her. I want to tell her everything but as always, I stutter on my words when I get nervous. "Erica and I... She and I... It was complicated... we... "

"It's okay, I understand. You don't have to..." She shrugs her shoulders before reaching for a towel to dry her hands. The towel rubs around her fingers as she says, nonchalantly. "Like I said, you don't owe me anything. Although, I'd rather hear about that from you instead of from Mark Sloan."

"Mark is an idiot, and you know that." I roll my eyes before taking the towel that she offers to me. "I never meant for you to hear that from him."

"I know how special Sloan is to you." She resumes to the previous position, leaning back against the sink and staring in distance. "I shouldn't compare myself to him."

"Arizona, Mark is my best friend. He's like a brother to me, but you're not any less important to me." I say in a heartbeat. "You are my best friend, too. I cherish our friendship."

"Yeah?" She looks at me with a smile. I must have said something right. I would see the spark in her blue eyes returns.

"If the both of you fell into the water, I wouldn't think twice to save you first." I shift my body, a hand on the edge of the sink and the other on my hip, facing her directly making sure that she would see the sincerity and seriousness on my face.

"I'm the daughter of a marine colonel." She throws her head back laughing out loud, amusing by my metaphor. "I don't think you'll have to save me from drowning."

"My point is, you're important to me." I laugh with her. There is something contagious in her laugh.

"You're important to me too." She gives me a dimpled smile in return. "Would you forgive me?"

"It's not even a question, Arizona." I dart her a mischievous intimate glance. "I'd forgive you if you forgive me."

"Can I hug you?" She casts a shy glance full of constraint at me. I smile, and then pull her into my arms.

I don't know how long it is that we wrap around each other's arms. Her arms around my neck and mine are holding her tight by her waist. I can feel her body relax and so does mine. We break apart until the door of the kitchen opens and the colonel enters.

"Everything's okay?" He asks, eyeing us curiously.

"Yeah, we're okay." Arizona turns to look at her father, with her hand holding mine, like she isn't ready to let me go yet. She asks when the man goes toward the fridge. "What do you want, dad?"

"Another bottle of wine." The colonel holds up the bottle that he just got from the fridge, smiling at us knowingly.

"You and mom finished a bottle?" Arizona questions while passing him a corkscrew.

"Hey young lady, you know there was like only one glass in there when I took it." He gives his daughter a feign scowl before opening the bottle. Arizona giggles and pulls me out of the kitchen, but the colonel calls us back. "Arizona, have you confirmed the hotel reservation yet?"

"Oh, I almost forget about it. I'll do it now." She makes a grimace. And she indicates the study with a jerk of her head.

"Hotel reservation in San Diego?" I ask. "I thought you have everything arranged already?"

"No, we're planning to go to Mt Rainier the coming weekend." The colonel answers for her, walking behind us down the hall with the now opened bottle of wine in his hand. "Arizona hasn't told you yet?"

"Yeah, we're planning to go to Mt Rainier the coming Saturday, spending a night and then we'll go from there to the airport." Arizona let go of my hand before she walks toward the study where her computer is. She spins around after taking two steps. "Do you want to go with us?"

"Of course Callie is going with us. It's the last weekend that we'd spend some times together." The colonel interjects, while pouring wine for his wife, who is wearing a huge smile on her face, looking at us from the couch.

* * *

A/N 2 : I'd like to apologize to you for this chapter. It seems kinda bland and rushed and with a lot of unsolved issues flowing in the air, I know... It's the difficulty of writing a single POV story, I'm still learning. And I just resumed to work after this 10 days long vacation, I don't really have time to polish this chapter (excuse, excuse, excuse... I know.)  
Next chapter during the romantic overnight trip to Mt Rainier, subalpine wildflower meadows ring the icy volcano while ancient forest cloaks Mt Rainier's lower slopes (quote from their website), Callie and Arizona will have the talk, I promise.

A/N 3 : Like I said in the beginning, this is going to be a short story. According to the schedule, it will come to an end after 3, maybe 4 more chapters. And the last 2 chapters probably is going to be Arizona POV.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.

A/N : I am so sorry for being absent for so long. Just... my muse has deserted me. I had a bad flu after the last chapter, and then a business trip, and then the news of Jcap leaving the show... I sat in front of my computer and my mind was blank. Anyway, I'll do my best trying to finish this story.

As always, all mistakes are mine and I appreciate your tolerance.

* * *

Colonel Daniel Robbins will have everything in control. He is a military man all over - Arizona joked to me two days before our little trip to Mt. Rainier while I was staring at my phone looking for details pondering the routine for our visit.

At first, I thought she was joking, not until I showed up at her house in the morning, being handed over a written schedule by the colonel.

According to the man, we don't have much time to explore the great mountain since it's gonna be just a one day trip, we should first head to Paradise, the south of Mt. Rainier National Park, where is about two and a half hours away from Downtown Seattle. We're going to spend some times at Henry M Jackson Memorial Visitor Center, and then have lunch at the Paradise Inn. We can hit the trails afterward, hiking up to Reflection Lake before we get back in the car toward the cabin where we're going to stay. We'll pass by Narada Falls, Christine Falls and Longmire on the way...

He even has the ETAs written next to the names of the places, in military time.

Other than the stress of arriving in Paradise on time, the drive is fairly pleasant. With me at the wheel, Arizona sitting on the passenger seat and her parents behind us, we laugh and chat, even sing along the radio when certain familiar songs are playing. Thanks to the traffic, we arriving the first destination a little ahead of schedule.

"Oh, what a paradise!" Barbara exclaims more than once when she takes in the view of the glorious meadows and the magnificent mount from afar. With her camera clenching tightly in her hand, she smiles to her husband. "Good thing that you remember to charge the camera last night, Daniel."

"I just hope she has enough space in the memory card." The colonel turns to us saying in a heavily jesting tone, before striding out to catch up with his wife, who has already shot off up the hill.

Arizona and I smile to each other. Simultaneously, our hands reach for the others and follow the older couple.

We are getting good at it. Holding hands, wrapping in each other's arms, sharing pecks, sharing smiles... She doesn't say it, but I know the quarrel between us has her parents worried for a little while. On some levels, we have a secret understanding of overdoing the intimate acts, in hope of convincing her parents that we are okay, and in love.

Walking along the path, having Arizona's hand in mine, I can't shut my mind off. This is almost at the end now. Just the last a day and a half and then things will go back to the way they were before. We are gonna be just best friends. And best friends don't clasp their hands with yours like afraid that you'd slip away. Best friends don't hold you from behind and rests their chin on your shoulder. Best friends don't fall asleep in your arms with the head on your chest...

I rub my thumb across the back of her hand, a subconscious attempt to remember the softness of her skin. She turns to look at me. Her smile is even brighter under the beaming autumn sun.

"I hate to admit it, but I am going to thank Sloan for recommending this place." She takes in a deep breath breathing in the fresh air. "It's really gorgeous in here."

"Oh god, don't tell him that." I chuckle, tugging her hand playfully. "He'd be even more insufferable hear that from you."

"That's true." She wrinkles her nose to a grimace. "I hate his smirk."

"I still don't understand why you hate him that much." I bump against her shoulder as we meander along the landscape of meadows. "If you get to know him better, you'd see that he actually has a good heart."

"Maybe." She purses her lips to a cute little pour. "I just can't stand idiots."

"He really is an idiot." I laugh out whilst wrapping my arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to me. "I won't argue with that."

"Why do you love him so much?" With an arm sneaking behind me, her hand resting on my hip, she tilts her head looking up at me.

"I've known him for quite a while. It all started when George cheated on me." I take a deep breath. It has been a long time since I talk about the unfortunate relationship with George O'Malley. "I was crushed. And Mark was there picking me up."

"Picking you up, you meant by sleeping with you?" Her voice was barely a whisper but I'm still able to catch it.

"By keep telling me that one failed relationship doesn't define me. It was George's lost, not mine. And he never gets tired of listening to my pointless dramas over and over again." I couldn't hide my smile thinking of the times that poor Mark had to hear my never ending rambles. "By the way, Mark and I just did it once. And it was a mistake."

"A mistake?" Arizona stops suddenly, pulling back to look at me.

"Yeah. We never had that romantic feeling toward each other. It felt wrong to sleep with him." I shrug my shoulder, resuming my steps as I talk. "I don't want to jeopardize our friendship."

"So... It's not that he dumped you for little Grey..." She puts her hands in her back pockets, following me in a slow pace.

"No." I swirl around, walking backward as I chuckle to her. "Who told you that?"

"Calliope, people in the hospital talks, a lot." With an impish smirk on her face, she cocks her head and says. "In case you don't realize that yet."

I laugh aloud. She is right. The people in the hospital do relish gossips.

"Mark and I are never together, not like that." I fling my arm around her shoulders, pulling her to me once again.

"And you're not waiting for him to come around?" She asks. Her words remind me the drunken conversation that she had with me outside her house a while ago. I wonder if she remembers that conversation, but I give her the same answer nevertheless.

"Nope, I'm not waiting for Mark. We are just friend." I nod my head, looking ahead as our feet carrying us further up the hill. "Actually, he's like a brother that I never had. I know you think that sometimes I over share with him. Just... he's really good at pep talk, you know. It's good to have someone to talk to, get to see things in a different perspective."

"Yeah, I get that." Arizona wraps her arms around my waist, resting her head on my shoulder. "Tim was that person to me."

She doesn't talk about her brother much, but I know how much she loved him, and how much she misses him. I give her shoulder a gentle squeeze, leaning down to kiss the top of her head as we walk in silence.

We halt to a stop seeing Barbara is pointing her camera at us. She looks back the screen with a self-satisfied smile after taking the picture.

"Ain't they adorable?" She shows it to the colonel, and then says to her daughter pointedly. "I still want that photo of the two of you that you put in your bedroom though."

"What photo?" I ask, but Arizona just takes my hand and leads us toward her parents.

"Come on, we're on a tight schedule. Ain't we supposed to have lunch now?" She talks to her father, ignoring my questioning gaze that is directing at her.

After lunch, we are supposed to hike up Stevens Canyon Road from the Paradise Inn toward Reflection Lakes. It's about 1 hour walking distance and then we'll return to Paradise Inn on the same way to get back to the car. Thanks to the advance from the Park Ranger, we decide to drive up to Paradise Valley Road, where is significantly closer to Reflection Lakes, saving us from walking all the way back.

"Are you doing okay, colonel?" I ask Arizona's father 20 minutes after we hit the trail. The reason we shortened the hike because Barbara told us that the colonel's knee is bothering him.

"I'm perfectly fine. Thank you, Callie." He smiles to me, gesturing his wife who is walking a few feet ahead of us, talking animatedly with their daughter. "It's not really that bad. Barbara is overreacted."

"She's just concerned." I smile back and make a suggestion. "Maybe I can take a look the next time you come to town. It's probably just an age related degenerative condition. If so, it can be fixed by a simple meniscal cartilage replacement."

"It would be great. Arizona told me that you're the best orthopedic surgeon in the country." The colonel says. "And she said that you're making cartilages from scratch. That's remarkable."

"Thank you, sir." The praise from him makes me brush. "She told you about that?"

"She wouldn't shut up about you. All we heard was all about how amazing Callie is. Most of the stories she told us over the phone were with you in it." He beams at me with a fatherly genial air. "Barbara and I feel like we've known you already. And we were not surprised when Arizona finally told us that you two are together."

I raise my eyebrows. Before I know how to respond to that, Arizona turns around abruptly.

"Hey, I heard my name." She squints at her father. "Are you talking about me literally behind my back?"

"Honey, I'm just telling Callie how glad I am that I finally got to meet her." The colonel winks at her before passing on. He adds looking between the two of us. "And you're right. She is an amazing person. You've got yourself a good one, finally."

I smirk at Arizona, but she turns around quickly, trying to hide the flush on her cheeks.

"So..." I shot a glance of suspicion at her as we walk side by side. "Your father told me that my name constantly came up in your phone calls with them?"

"You're my best friend, of course I talked about you." She shrugs a shoulder acting nonchalantly, but the blush on her face just goes deeper.

I just smile and clasp her hand with mine without saying anything else. There's a giddy pleasure running through my head knowing that Arizona talked about me to her parents even before we feign this relationship. It might mean nothing, just... I'm not Arizona's only friend in the hospital. I haven't seen Barbara or the colonel asking about Teddy or Bailey in these few weeks.

"Look at that, Daniel." Barbara gasps as soon as the view of Reflection Lakes burst upon us. It's simply spectacular. The beautiful view of Mount Rainier rises above the calm and peaceful lake. The nature wears its best colors under this sunny day. Mount Rainier and evergreen conifers set a perfect background for yellow, red and orange foliage. Vine maple, larches and huckleberries can be seen everywhere... Barbara isn't the only one who is fascinated by this glorious nature.

"Oh my god..." I marvel at the close and full reflection of the mountain in the waters. Arizona and I pause in admiration of the view, while Barbara drags her husband getting closer to the lake with her camera clicking away nonstop.

"Yeah, it's pretty stunning." Arizona moves closer and wraps an arm around my waist. My arm has the mind of its own to reach around her shoulder, holding her closer to my side.

"Thanks for asking me to come with you. This view is..." I look down at the woman in my arm. She is smiling back at me. Her dimples pop, and her eyes are shining under the sunshine. She is just... "...beautiful."

Our eyes lock and my heartbeat quickens as she tilts her head subtly. My gaze shifts from the sparkling blue eyes to the slightly agape pink lips. My head leans down slowly as if I'm drawn to her alluring lips...

"Arizona! Callie! Come over here, let's take a picture together." Barbara chooses this moment to call us over.

We both pull apart simultaneously like we were caught having our hands in a cookie jar. Sharing an awkward smile, we stride toward the mother who is waving her hand at us enthusiastically.

We take turns to hold the camera until the colonel asks one of the passing by hikers to hold it so the four of us can be in the pictures together. Under the request of Barbara, the nice gentleman took an absurd amount of photos for us with the magnificent lake as our background before he continues his track.

"Do you want to walk a bit further along the lake?" Arizona asks her parents as her eyes following the hiker.

"I think we'd take a rest in there, enjoying the view." Barbara points to the bunch of big rocks not so far away from us. It looks like a comfortable place to sit. "But you girls go ahead."

"We can all stay. It's peaceful in here." I offer, and I turn to Arizona saying with concern. "And maybe I can take a look of your father's knee? I've dealt with this kind of pain all the time, a massage could help."

"Callie, I've told you that I'm fine. Barbara just wants to spend some times with me alone." The man winks at us as he jokes, and his wife chimes in with a teasing smile.

"Yeah, I want some quality time with my husband by this romantic view. We don't need the third and forth wheel with us."

"Oh, you're saying you want to get rid of us after we brought you two to here? What? We're useless to you now?" Arizona puffs her cheeks, but her eyes are laughing.

"Don't say it like that, honey. We still need you to take us to the cabin later." Barbara laughs with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"Can you believe these are my parents?" Arizona rolls her eyes. The uncanny similarity of playfulness between the mother and daughter makes me chuckle.

"I know how busy the two of you were in the last few days, especially with us staying with you." The elfish expression on Barbara's face has replaced by a motherly smile. "We're giving you some free time without your parents tagging along. Thank you would be the appropriate response, Arizona."

"Yeah, you'd say anything to get rid of me." Arizona scrunches her nose to a grimace before taking my hand. "Come on, let's go before they do something that would traumatize their own daughter."

"We'll be back soon." I laugh to the Robbins' as their daughter pulls me away. And the colonel waves his hand urging us to move along.

"Don't worry, we have plenty of time. We're ahead of the schedule." He replies me while putting a hand behind his wife's back, helping her to sit on one of the rocks facing the lake.

"They really love each other very much." I say to Arizona, and she turns to glance at her parents, and a wide smile finds the way to her face.

"They really do."

We walk along the path, enjoying the fresh smell of the nature, and the gentle breeze brushing our faces. Even though the parents might not see us from the distance, either of us has thought about letting go of our joining hands.

"I'm sure it would be even more beautiful in here during spring. The spring flowers are more colorful." Arizona takes a deep breath, looking over to the mountain from afar and then turns her gaze at me. "What do you say that we come back here in a few months?"

"Sure," I give her a heartfelt smile, I'd really like that. However, the voice in the back of my head makes me say more than I should. "But don't you want to come here with a real girlfriend?"

"If only..." She trails off with a shrug of shoulders. Her face turns to the lake that I couldn't really read the expression on her face.

We continue walking in silence. Arizona seems to be moving in a private trance of her own and I couldn't help to raise another question.

"Why don't you want to settle down?"

"Huh?" She blinks up at me with puzzled showing on her face.

"You grown up seeing your parents so in love," I wet my lips before repeating what I just said. "Don't you want to find someone? Being settled down?"

"Who told you that I don't want to settle down?" She tilts her head to the side, trying to suppress her amusement but the mischievous sparkle can be seen in her blue eyes.

"Well... you're a beautiful woman, Arizona." Pursing my lips, I say matter-of-factly. "And you have dated a lot..."

"You think I'm beautiful?" Her lips spread to a wide grin, showing off the dimples she knows that I always adore.

"Anyone has eyes could see that." I roll my eyes upward to her rhetorical question. Of course she is beautiful. And I'm pretty sure that she knows it. "And I believe that there are women lining up for you. You can have anyone you want, but instead, you're here with me."

"How I wish..." Once again, she says haltingly. She directs me a meaningful glance, before looking ahead with a little wry smile on her lips. "How I wish I can have anyone I want."

The flatness of defeat in her voice makes my heart ache for her. And the image of a certain tall, skinny, exotic gorgeous Italian flashes in my head.

"So..." I twist my lips, stealing glances at my side seeing that I've got her attention. "That OB hurt you real bad, huh?"

"Who?" Her head snaps up, staring at me in confusion.

"Carola... Katrina..." Never the one good with names, I struggle to remember the name of the woman that Mark found out. "You know, the woman you were dating, showed up a couple times when you just started to work in here?"

"Carina?" She raises her eyebrows, looking even more confused now. "How do you know about her?"

"Lucy Feilds recognized her." That is true, but that isn't the whole story of how I know about her. Mark overheard some nurses talked about Dr. Robbins's hot, hot girlfriend and one of them said that Lucy Feilds knew her and they talked in the lobby. Mark asked around, even looked up on the internet finding out who this mystery woman was. At the time, he wasn't doing that for me. He was just being the terrible gossip that he is, and well, a dog chasing after beautiful women. "You two were together for a long time?"

"Just a couple months, right when I started to work in Seattle." She sighs, and keeps her eyes looking down on the ground as we walk in a slow pace. "Why do you think that she hurt me?"

"I don't know, just a hunch. I mean, you started going out with random women from the dating app after Carola..." I look at Arizona, and she offers me the correct name. "Carina stopped showing up. It was like that you're trying very hard to forget about her."

"Hold on a second. You keep track of my dates?" She squints at me incredulously, and I don't need a mirror to know that my face is turning beet red.

"Like you said, people in the hospital talk a lot." Despite of my embarrassment, I am quick enough to think of a comeback. Arizona chuckles lightly and then pulls me to the bench by the path.

"Yeah, right." She brushes a strain of hair behind her ear as she sits down.

"So..." I raise my eyebrows, urging for her to talk. "What happened?"

"Carina and I... She was fun to be around with, and the sex was hot." She says jokingly, but I just feel my stomach flip flopping. "But I was never serious about that relationship. I don't know. She has never made my heart skip a beat. She has never made me smile just thinking about her... You are right, growing up seeing my parents, I know what love should look like and feel like."

"You broke up with her?" I shift on the bench, facing her directly with my arm resting on the back of it.

"Actually, she ended things with me. She wanted more from me, but..." She purses her lips, inhaling a deep breath and blowing out slowly. "We talked, she realized, and she made me realized that who I want isn't her."

"That's why you started to look for the one from the sea of women in the dating app?" I ask, and Arizona gives me a playful smirk before letting out a long sigh.

"It sounds really awful, Calliope." She shakes her head slowly. "That was a distraction. I already knew who I want. I just don't think that I could have."

"How so?" I relax back in the bench, scorning to look eager.

"Do you ever have an immediate connection with someone the moment you met?" Mimicking my posture, she crosses her legs, propping up her head with her elbow on the back of the bench, looking into my eyes with a bitter smile on her lips. "You know, a connection so strong that you're drawn to them in a way you have never experienced before?"

"Like finally meeting the other half of your soul." I almost choke in my breath. This, this is how I feel everyday since the first time we talked to each other.

"Like meeting your soulmate." Our eyes lock on like magnets, but she quickly looks away. "That's how my mom described the moment she met my dad."

"So," I keep my eyes on her face. "Are you still searching?"

"I..." Her mouth opens and closes a couple times, and I could see the movement of her throat. Suddenly, her lips turn upward and a mischievous look crosses her face. "You've asked me a lot of questions, Calliope. Since when are you so interested in my love life?"

"What?" The table turns abruptly, all I could do is laughing awkwardly. "I... I don't. I mean... I mean, you're my best friend, I care about you."

"Yeah? Okay, then tell me about yours." she smirks with a small pouting of the lips, a narrowing of the eyes and a tilting of the head. "I didn't even know you were dating Hahn. So, are you dating anyone right now that I don't know?"

"I'm not dating anyone right now." I squirm under her gaze and fidgeting with my fingers nervously.

"I don't believe you." Arizona sucks in her lips, still squinting at me. "You don't want to tell me because we've dated the same person?"

"No, don't be ridiculous." Once again, I laugh awkwardly. "Erica was my one and only girlfriend."

"Erica... she was your first?" Her face washes blank with confusion, like her brain couldn't turn fast enough to take in the information. "Are you one of those fake lesbians just having a vacation in Lesbianland?"

"No! I'm not!" I shake my head fleetly. "I mean... I don't know. It's just... this whole girl thing, it's so confusing."

"What are you talking about?" Seems still a little shock, she gives a hoarse chuckle.

"How do you know when a girl is flirting? I mean, a guy looks at me in a certain way, you know, his eyes wander when he talks, and bang, I just know." Getting a little flustered, words stammer out of my mouth without really processing by my brain. All I remember is how Arizona acts around me. "But with a girl, _the touching, the smiling, the biting lips while talking... It's hard to know it's just being friendly or actually, you know, hitting on me."_

 _As if she's helping to prove my points, Arizona listens quietly with the corner of her bottom lip between her teeth._

 _"You really are a newborn." Finally, she breaks into a chuckle._

 _"Don't call me that." I_ smack _on her knee, and she just falls in a fit of giggles._

 _"What do you think of Sadie Harris?" She asks me after her laugher died down._

 _"The_ new intern, big Grey's friend?" It takes me a while to put the face to the name. "The psycho with no appendix?"

"Yeah." She nods, studying my face subtly. "And Penny Blake, the third year resident?"

"Harris is a psycho and I think that she's not fit for the job, and Blake... she is a solid resident." I answer honestly. And I don't understand why she's talking about our subordinates all in a sudden. "Why would you ask about them?"

"Because they have constantly flirted with you." One side of her lips tug upward to a half smile. "It seems that they have a better gaydar than I do."

"You're crazy, Arizona. They are not." It's my turn to chuckle.

"Harris looks at you like a starving bear staring at this delicious cooked turkey, with like lines of deliciousness coming off it." Arizona wriggles her fingers right in front of my face, intimating the imaginary stream that she's talking about and I smack her hand away. "And Blake, she takes any chance that she could get to be on your service. And she laughed at your unfunny jokes, Calliope. Every single time."

"She's just interested in Ortho." I roll my eyes at her. "And my jokes are funny."

"No, they are not. And yes, Blake is into you." She picks up my hand and pats it a couple times emphasizing her words. "Seriously, you haven't picked up any vibe? From anyone?"

"I've told you, it's confusing." I make a grimace and try to withdraw my hand from hers, but Arizona tightens her grip.

"Well..." She slides closer to me on the bench, raising her free hand to toy with a lock of my hair. "What if I tell you that I've been flirting with you all along?"

"You do?" My eyes widen and a nervous excitement building in my stomach, until I read the strange twinkle in her eyes. "Very funny, and mean."

"What?" The little smile on her face falls.

"You're making fun of me." I narrow my eyes giving her a pretentious pout, flicking my hair to knock her fingers off of it. "It's not really nice, after I told you all about my... confusion."

"I'm serious, Calliope." She says urgently, but I just wave my hand at her before getting up from the bench.

"Yeah, I know that you're a serious flirt. You flirt with me. You flirt with everyone. I was there the other day when you smiled your way to get the biggest piece of pie from the cafeteria lady, remember?" Not that I can't take a joke, it's just... a little mean after I pour my heart out. I jerk my head toward the direction where we came from. "Come on, we should head back to your parents. Your dad has a specific time for us to arrive in the next destination."

"You think I am joking?" Arizona gets up on her feet reluctantly. The pout on her face tells me that she isn't so pleased that I don't fall for her trick. "What you saw in there? With the cafeteria lady? That was bad flirting. Lazy flirting."

"Yeah?" I looked at her with uplifted eyebrows. And my heart skips a beat when she leads closer to my face with her eyes narrowed, lips pulling up to a seductive smile.

"You haven't seen my A-game yet." She gives me a wink before walking passed me.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.

All mistakes are mine, sorry about that.

* * *

"She ran into the house, shouting from the top of her lungs - _Nick will never pull the streamers off of my bikes ever again_." Barbara laughs between sipping the wine from the glass in her hand. "And she showed me the adorable ring that was made of crabgrass on her finger. You should see the look on her face. She was so happy of marrying Nick."

"I was happy that he promised to never break my bike again." Arizona sticks out her tongue toward her mother. "It was Tim's idea. He said that Nick would be nicer to me once he became my husband. I have to say, it was really yucky to kiss him by the end of the ceremony."

"Was he the first guy you ever kissed?" I ask the woman snuggling up to me on the couch with amusement.

"And the last one." Arizona wrinkles her nose before finishing up her glass, as if using it to clean her mouth. I chuckle lightly while reaching out the bottle on the coffee table, refilling the glasses for the two Robbins women.

After dinner, we retreat back to the cabin that we're staying in for a night cap. Since we're all on vacation after all, a drink turns into a whole bottle of wine. Without noticing it, we're on our way finishing up the second bottle.

"I really thought you and Nick would make it real, you know." Barbara slumps back into the couch opposite to us after I filled up her glass. She has had more wine than she'd usual have and her voice becomes slightly slurred. "You two were so close while growing up. It would be so nice to have him in the family."

"Barbara..." Colonel gives his wife a warning stare before glancing at me.

"What? You agree with me..." It takes a couple of seconds for Barbara's intoxicated brain to catch on. She stares at me with widen eyes and stammers out. "Oh... oh... I don't mean... I was just saying... they were very cute together..."

"And you don't think that we're cute?" Arizona purses her lips, challenging her mother. She is not as drunk as Barbara, but clearly she has reached her limited. I don't think she realizes that she has pressed her whole body up against me on the couch, and the hand close to me is stroking my knee in the last 10 minutes. She tiles her head looking at me with a pout. "Tell my mom that we're cute, Calliope."

"I am not cute, Arizona." I couldn't hold back a laugh. I'd never describe myself as cute, but damn, the woman in my arm is absolutely adorable. "You know that I have a reputation to uphold."

"Yeah I know. You're not cute." Leaning deeper into my body, her hand shifts from my knee to my inner thigh as she arches her neck, pressing her lips against my ear. "You're hot."

"Okay." I quickly grab her wandering hand, subtly sliding it back on my knee. Not that I don't enjoy her hand on me, just... not in front of her very solemn looking father, and not while she is so tipsy. "I think that we should call it the night."

"No, it's still early." The mother protests instantly. And she holds up the glass in her hand. "I haven't finished my wine yet. And this is our last night together. I haven't told you the time Arizona brought her first girlfriend home yet."

"This is the last night with Callie in this trip. I'm sure that we'll meet again soon." The colonel corrects his wife before taking the glass from her hand. "I know that you're having a blast, but right now I think is time to take you to bed."

With a little resistance, and a promise from me that we'll do this again sometime, Barbara follows her husband to their room, leaving me and Arizona in the living room.

"Hey, you're not sleeping on me, are you?" I shrug my shoulder, nudging the blonde head that is silently resting on me.

"No." She answers me softly. "It's just too comfortable in here."

"Yeah." I look over to the red flames in the wide open fireplace as my hand stroking her arm up and down. The cabin is warm and quiet, and cozy. I'd love to stay in this bubble a little longer, but I know that Arizona must be tired. "You should go get some sleep."

"You're coming with me?" She asks me after reluctantly getting up on her feet.

"In a minute." I give her a small smile. "You go ahead using the bathroom first."

I stay behind, putting out the fire, rinsing the wine glasses and making sure that the doors are locked before going into the room that Arizona and I share. As I enter, she just comes out from the bathroom in her sleeping clothes. A set of slim cut tank top and a boy short that leaves almost nothing to the imagination. I try not to stare, but her moving around in the room really is not helping.

"What are you doing?" I question after pulling my set of PJ from my overnight bag.

"I..." She looks between the pillow and the thin comforter in her hands. "I'm doubting that I should take the armchair or sleeping on the floor..."

"What?" I frown at her.

"I couldn't book us a twin beds room because it would've looked weird. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable in here with me." Arizona says as she lays down the comforter on the floor and the pillow on top of it. She stares at her makeshift sleeping place without looking at me. "After the couple times that you fled from my house in the middle of the night, I sort of get the idea that maybe it is because you are... well, that you don't want to be so..."

"For crying out loud..." I roll my eyes before walking toward her. Yes, I am nervous of sleeping next to her while she's wearing that little, but to hell that I would let her sleeping on the cold wooden floor. I pick up the pillow and throw it back on the bed. "It's not like we haven't shared a bed before. We have slept together in on-call rooms and I have never seen you chose to sleep on the floor. Stop fishing, Arizona. Get in the bed and I'll be there after I freshened up."

There is a pout on her face while settling in bed, but the smile in her eyes is too bright to hide.

I pick up my things walking toward the bathroom, Arizona calls after me.

"My parents adore you."

"That was the idea though, right?" I answer her before closing the door.

I haven't taken much time in the bathroom, but it is still a surprise that Arizona hasn't fallen asleep yet when I return, considering that it was a long day, and she has had quite a lot of wine earlier.

"Why ain't you sleeping yet? You can hardly open your eyes." I turn off the lights before crawling in beside her. She looks at me with her drowsy eyes and a lazy smile around her lips.

"I'm just keep thinking that my parents like you." She emphasizes her words with a nod of her head. "Like really, really like you."

"They're lovely people, I'm sure that they'd like everyone." I prop myself up on an elbow facing her. "Your mother seems still prefer Nick more than me though."

"Nah, my mom loves Nick as a son." Arizona lets out a big yawn between talking. "She loves you because you're my girlfriend."

"Yeah." I sigh, flopping back against the pillows. Of course I know that the Robbins like me, and I like them too, a lot. I can't imagine how upset they would be finding out that this is all a fraud...

"It's gonna be okay." Arizona breathes out. I look to the side, seeing that the blue eyes are closed and a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She's drifting off to sleep.

I watch the peaceful face of Arizona for a couple seconds and then I close my eyes as well. Suddenly, I feel the person sleeping next to me starting toss and turn, apparently trying to find a better position on the bed.

Without opening my eyes, I stretch out my arm to my side. It doesn't take more than 2 seconds for Arizona to take the invitation and snuggle up to me.

"How do you know that I need a cuddle?"

"You were like a koala bear each time we snuggled up on the couch." I wrap my arm around her. "It doesn't take a genius to know that Dr. Robbins like to cuddle."

"Shut up." She laughs as she wraps her arm around me. Pulling me in as close as she can and presses one of her legs between mine, nuzzling into my neck and is once again fallen asleep within seconds.

The last thing I remember before falling asleep too is that Arizona's soft lips pressing lovingly against my skin.

* * *

Our positions have shifted somewhere over the night. When the alarm goes off, I find myself being the big spoon wrapping Arizona in my arms, and my face is buried in her golden locks.

"Why did you set an alarm?" Arizona groans sleepily.

"Because..." I let go of her, rolling to my side of the bed to shut off my phone on the nightstand. "Your father has planned to visit one more place because we take off to the airport, remember?"

"No." She groans again and too rolls to my side of the bed, clinging onto me like when we fell asleep last night. "I'm way too comfortable here to get out of bed and get on a trail."

"This is their vacation. You know that they'd like to spend more times out there." My hand falls to her hip. The tank top that she's wearing has rolled up slightly, my palm is resting on her bare skin, her incredible smooth skin.

"This is our vacation too." Her warm breath tickles my neck as her hand lazily drawing patterns on my side. "I say, we stay in bed a little longer."

"Okay, you stay here. I'll go get the breakfast ready." I press my lips on the top of her head before slowly pulling myself out of her embrace, but Arizona doesn't like this idea.

"You stay here too. I need my body pillow." She moves to lay completely on top of me with her face burying in my neck, effectively avoiding me from getting out of the bed.

"You do know that I break bones for a living, right?" I laugh at her antic, and my hands are holding her on her hips. "I can easily fling you off to the floor."

"No, you wouldn't do that to me." Not lifting her head, Arizona says with a positively triumphant note in her voice.

"Oh, you want to bet?" I say teasingly, but the blonde doesn't move a bit. So, I knead her hips with my hands pretending that I'm about to nudge her off of me.

I could feel and hear her giggles, and then, she blows raspberries against my neck.

"No Arizona! Stop!" I laugh and squirm under her. Of course I could have easily thrown her off of me, but I don't want to hurt her. And my neck is always my sensitive spot, her attack has me weak on my knees. All I can do is to beg for mercy. "Please stop it... Okay... okay, I'll stay! I'll stay!"

Satisfied with my surrender, Arizona brings her face hovering over mine with a cocky smile.

"You're a bully." I am still laughing, and trying to catch my breath in the same time. She tenderly brushes the few strands of my mess hair out of my face with her finger tips.

"I love seeing you laugh." She grins at me. "Your smile brightens up the whole room."

The atmosphere around us changes dramatically all in a sudden. Arizona's face turns serious as the finger tips that she used to brush off my hair is now tracing along my jaw line. Her piercing blue eyes drift down to my lips and I run the tips of tongue over them instinctively. The tension between us can be cut with a knife until she slowly lowers her head...

Suddenly nervous and very aware of the little voice in the back of my head asking myself if I'm sure about this, I subconsciously bite my lower lip, my breathing becoming fast and shallow. Arizona seems to sense this and pauses, her lips merely centimeters from mine.

"Do you want me to stop?" She whispers.

I want to yes, but my body has its own mind to ignore that little voice. I bring my hand to the back of Arizona's neck to pull her to me.

I know instantly that the little voice in the back of my head was right to question this move. No one that I had ever kissed before had even come close to make me feel the way when her pillow-y lips capturing mine. The world ceases to exist, blurred and indistinct as all my senses are surrounded by Arizona. For a split second, I am fear that any kiss that I'm gonna share with anyone else would just become insignificant.

We have shared kisses here and there, but those could identify as quick close-lips pecks at most. This one, this kiss feels different.

Arizona takes her time nibbling my top lip ever so lightly, as if she's savoring the most delicious ice-cream. My hands pushing her tank top higher and higher up as my wandering hands caress her back freely... I couldn't hold back a moan feeling her soft skin under my touch. Pressing my tongue against her lower lip, I feel her lips curve to a smile and then they part, inviting me in.

Our tongues meet, my heart's pounding so hard that feels like it's about to beat right out of my chest when she swiftly push her leg between mine...

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

"Arizona, Callie, are you up yet?" Barbara's voice rings through the door.

My body stiffens as soon as I hear the knocking and look at the door with my eyes bulged while Arizona casually rolls out of bed and opens the door a fraction.

"Mom," she says to her mother in a low voice. "Yes, we've woken up already. But I'm not gonna see my girlfriends for a couple of days, could you mind... maybe give us a few minutes? We'll join you for breakfast later?"

Barbara mumbles something that I couldn't really hear, but she is gone instantly.

"Okay..." Arizona slowly closes the door and walks across the room, sitting back on the bed and her hands reaches out to cup my face. "Where were we?"

My mind feels like it's in overdrive as the loving blue eyes gazing into mine. Minutes ago kissing her had felt like the most natural thing in the world... maybe even the best thing that had ever happened to me... but now I almost wish it has never happened.

I love her. I know I do but I also know that she doesn't feel the same way. We're comfortable around each other because I don't mind settle to be her best friend. If we cross that line, things will be different and I probably would reduce to just one of the notches on her bed pose. Does a moment of lust really worth risking that over?

Arizona leans forward to kiss me again and I back away from her slightly. I can't even bring myself to look at her as I speak.

"Your parents are already up. We really should get ready. I don't want them to delay... You know your father has a precise schedule..."

"Oh, okay..." She is a little surprise, and pulling away from me.

"I'm gonna use the bathroom." I gesture toward the bathroom as I clumsily get out of the bed, still not looking at her.

"I go help mom with breakfast." She turns away without another word. I watch her walking out of the door, the hurt etches into her features makes my heart feel suddenly so cold and empty...

We continue the sightseeing after breakfast. The colonel and Barbara are still in their cheerful holiday mood but I can't say the same for Arizona and me. We try our best to act normal around each other but if anyone has paid a little more attention on us, they would see the awkwardness oozing from our body languages. We smiles to each other but the smiles don't reach our eyes. We hold hands only knowing Barbara has her eyes on us. We make conversations with the parents so that we don't need to talk to each other...

And the ride to the airport is not any less agony.

Like yesterday, I'm on the wheel and Arizona is sitting next to me in the passenger seat. The parents in the back are the only ones that are talking. They are chatting away about this trip and planning to come back in another season... probably, I haven't really listened to what they are talking. All I could focus on is that Arizona's hand resting on mine, and her grip getting tighter the closer we get to the airport.

We arrive in the airport with a little time to spare. Arizona helps her father getting the baggage out of the trunk onto the trolley, and Barbara comes over to me giving me a bear hug.

"I'm so glad to get to know you, Callie." She says with her arms wrapping around me tightly. "And I'm so happy that Arizona has found you."

"I'm glad to have known you too, Barbara." I hug her back and bury my face into her neck, trying to hide my choke up voice. This lovely sweet old lady has grown on me tremendously over these few weeks. I just wish that she wouldn't be too mad if she knew that I have been lying to her...

"Don't be a stranger, give me a call..." Barbara pulls back from the hug. And she wraps her arms around me once again when she sees my redden eyes. "Oh honey, we'll see each other again very soon. Or you and Arizona can come visiting us during holiday."

I just nod against her shoulder.

"Yeah, we definitely are gonna spend thanksgiving together. You're the only one that can bring Arizona to help in the kitchen." The colonel comes standing next to us. Barbara lets go of me so her husband can give me a goodbye. I know the man is not a hugger, but he gives me a warm, fatherly hug nevertheless. And he whispers out of earshot of his wife and daughter. "Thanks for taking care of my Arizona. I've never seen her as happy as she is whenever she's with you."

Words couldn't come out of my mouth, I just kiss him on his cheek before he let go of me.

The father and mother get the trolley and go in to check in first, saying to give Arizona and me a few minutes of privacy to say our goodbye properly. After watching the Robbins disappeared behind the slide doors, I turn around and find Arizona leaning against my car, hands in her pockets, looking down at the ground.

Slowly, I take the few steps to close the distance between us.

"Arizona..." I open my mouth, still trying to find the right words to explain how I feel, but Arizona doesn't give me much time to think.

Abruptly, she lunges forth, grabbing the lapel of my jacket and her lips are on me in an instant. I stumble back a step due to the suddenness, but the hands on my jacket pull me back. And in the next second, I find my back against the side of my car and Arizona's whole body firmly pressing into my front, with her lips still attaching to mine.

I hardly have a moment to react before she pushes her tongue to the seam of my lips. It doesn't take long for me to reciprocate in the kiss. Out tongues meet and fight for domination - she wins the battle as she aggressively sucks my tongue into her mouth, leaving me buzzing with desire.

My hands go to her hips holding her tight, forcing the kiss to deepen and we moan into each other's mouth.

A loud honk coming from somewhere breaks our spell.

I pull back from the kiss with my eyes widened, having no idea what just happened. Arizona and I are both drawing in big, heaving breaths but she still has her eyes closed.

Slowly, her eyes open and they gaze at me instantly. Staring deep into her ocean blue eyes, the swirls of emotion I see there make me gasp.

Her mouth opens and closes a couple times striving to talk but no sound comes out. Finally, she gives me a bitter smile and then turns around toward the airport.

Second time today, I watch Arizona walking away from me with her shoulders slumped.

The impatient driver behind my car honks again chasing me out of my thought. As I get back in the car my stomach feels as though it is tying itself in knots and my chest feel strangely heavy.

The drive back home passed in a haze. I keep reminding myself that this is a fake relationship and it is over now. I know what I have signed up for and I shouldn't feel this heartbroken, but the tears just couldn't stop streaming down my face.

I still couldn't figure out the looks that Arizona gave me after our last kiss. But it doesn't matter anymore. When she returns after tomorrow, things will go back to where it was...

It has to.

I have to try.

* * *

A/N : It's getting close, believe me.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.

* * *

Arizona's POV

My 71 years old uncle Ted stands up from his seat, wearing the biggest smile on his face while all the guests around the long table greet him with applauses.

"52 years ago, I met the woman of my dream. I still remember the night that we met." His gaze falls to the woman sitting next to him. "I was having beer with my army brothers in a pub closed to the base where I was stationed. And then, I saw her. She was standing near the dancing floor, one of the spotlights shone above her. Her golden hair was shinning like a halo around her. I said to one of my buddies, dear lord, I've seen an angel."

His speech makes everyone around him goes aww...

"Lighting is important, ladies." Auntie Sandra says teasingly, and we all burst into laugher.

I've known Uncle Ted and Auntie Sandra my whole life. They are not really my blood relative but they're closer than that. Uncle Ted, my dad and Nick's father served in the same team ever since they enlisted and they went through fire and water together. Our families grew up together and stayed close even the fathers went their separated ways after the military lives.

This isn't the first time that I've heard the love story of my beloved uncle and aunt, but somehow, it makes me feel emotional tonight - it reminds me the first time that I laid eyes on a certain brunette.

I was new in the hospital, didn't really know anybody so I took my time observing my peers from the galleries. A lot of accidents of children involve broken bones. I needed to know which Ortho surgeon that I could trust to take care of my tiny human, and everyone told me that Dr. Torres is the best. So, I went to observe one of her surgery.

I wasn't disappointed. It was an internal fixation to the radius and ulna, and Callie performed it perfectly. I was in awed by the way of her handling all those instruments liked a part of her limbs, and the confidence she had during the procedure. Before she wrapped up the surgery, it was like she knew that I was fixated on her the whole time, she looked up to the gallery and our eyes locked...

The pair of brown eyes was big, and warm, and expressive. It was shinning with joy and cockiness of just rocking a difficult surgery. And even though half of her face was hidden behind the mask, her eyes told me that there was a big toothy smile hanging on her face.

My thought stirs when a shadow rushing to my side of the table.

"Hey, Auntie Barbara." Nick crouches down to kiss my mother's cheek, quietly greets my dad hoping not to disturb Uncle Ted's speech before sitting on the empty chair next to me. He thinks he is sneaky but of course, everyone sees him and we are all looking at him. Nick being Nick, he shrugs his shoulders with a grin. "I'm sorry, I would have been here an hour earlier but my flight was delayed."

"Of course it was." Uncle Ted glares at him playfully. He waits to continue his story after Nick ran around the table giving his wife a greeting kiss. "Where was I... oh yes, my proposal. I took Sandra out to a..."

"Jeez... he's going to tell the story from the very beginning?" Nick whispers into my ear as soon as he got back to his seat.

"Shut up. It's lovely." I lightly slap his lap under the table.

"I know. I've heard the stories for a thousand times." We snicker together. It is true. We have spent enough time around them while growing up. We know their love stories, all our parents' love stories very well. Still smiling, Nick asks me. "Where is your hot, badass girlfriend?"

I roll my eyes at my mother. Of course she couldn't wait to tell Nick about it.

"I'll tell you later." I whisper back to him, holding up my glass when Uncle Ted calls for a toast to his wife.

This is a small, intimate party with around 30 family members and close friends in Uncle Ted's big backyard. After the caterers brought out the main course, someone turned up the stereo and the party heated up. With the melodies of those soft, romantic ballads in my parents' generation playing, uncle Ted helps his wife getting up from the chair and the two swaying to the music in each other's arms. A few of couples follow the lead, joining into the makeshift dance floor, including my parents.

I watch them with a grin, envying them of finding their better halves and still in love after decades. After a while, Nick taps my shoulder and jerks his head toward the side.

No, he isn't asking me for a dance. We sneak to the other side of the backyard, like we always did as a couple of kids while the adults were having their fun. Laying on the lounge chairs side by side, the two of us catch up of our lives.

"This is the craziest thing you're ever done, Tucson!" Nick almost laughs his butt off hearing how I got myself a fake girlfriend. "Who would have thought that a type-A like you would come up with this bonkers idea?"

"Mom cornered me." I cast him a sidelong glare. I know that he'd find it funny, but his hysterical laugh is a bit too much. "She kept saying that I'm at that age, you know, marriage, babies..."

"So you told her that you're dating the hottest surgeon in the whole hospital." Still grinning ear to ear, Nick holds up his palm offering me a high five. "Nice."

"You think Callie's hot?" Ignoring his hand, I just frown at him.

"Hey, I had cancer, I wasn't blind." He shifts on the chair, making himself comfortable and folding his arms behind his head. "I would have asked her out if she wasn't my doctor. And you were drooling all over her."

"I did no such thing." Mimicking his posture, I too pillow my head with my arms.

"Oh Yuma, you sure did." Nick says with a hit of amusement in his voice. "Like I said, I wasn't blind. You were perkier than usual whenever she was in the room."

"She was saving your life." I chew my lips, wandering if I was really that obvious at that time. "I was just trying to be... helpful."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mesa. Just don't forget that I have known you since you were in diapers." He gives me a lopsided smile telling me that I'm not convincing, like I don't already know that. "So, what's next?"

"Next?" I let out a dry laugh. I don't want to think about the next step, but it's unavoidable. "I have to come up with a perfect story, telling mom and dad that Callie and I have broken up."

"What? Why?" He bolts upright in the chair, staring at me.

"What do you mean why? I told you that it's not real." I roll my eyes at him.

"Are you sure?" He asks again.

"It's a fake relationship." I wet my lips before letting out a little sigh. "I think that I'm pretty sure about it."

"No, I mean... you should see the smile on your face while you talked about her." Nick leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. The lights are low in this part of the backyard, but I can still see the furrows between his brows. "Are you sure that you want this to end?"

"Nick..." I shake my head. "It's not my call."

"This is bull-"

"Nick, she holds all the cards." I cut him off.

"How so?" His frown goes deeper.

"For so long I tried to avoid the catastrophe of falling for a straight friend... again." I manage to give him a bitter smile with my shoulders slump. The sympathetic smile on his face tells me that he remembered the embarrassing incident in my youth. "Even though now that I know she's bi-"

"I know. It was brutal." Nick cuts in with a sigh. "But now that you knew."

"I know that from the big blabbermouth Sloan." My lips curve to a pout. "Callie didn't even tell me."

"Now you knew." Nick stared at me steely-eyed. "What's the hold up?"

"Yeah, she's into women but it doesn't mean that she's into me." I glance at him before throwing my head back staring at the starry sky. "It's not like that we're both lesbians and then we automatically attract to each other. Don't tell me that you think every straight woman come across your path wants you."

"Not until they have seen my moves." He chuckles lightly while moving onto my lounge chair. "Have you showed her that you're interested in her?"

"I flirted with her, constantly." Shifting on the chair, I snuggle up against Nick's chest and he wraps an arm around my shoulder. "Well, she explained to me that she's confused with women flirting..."

"You have to up your game, Phoenix." He squeezes my arm saying teasingly.

"I did. Yesterday morning we had a moment... We almost..." I sigh again. "She pulled away. I could see the regret in her eyes, Nick."

"You almost...?" He dips his head trying to look into my face, but I just bury my face deeper into his chest.

"We made out in bed. And if mom didn't interrupt us, I'm pretty sure we would..." Nick and I talk, a lot. That doesn't mean I feel comfortable of telling him that Callie and I almost have sex. I quickly brush it off. "I was caught up at the moment. And she couldn't even look at me afterward."

"Have you two talked about it?" He asks after a pregnant silence.

"We didn't have the chance." I shake my head slightly. "She dropped us off at the airport. Mom and dad were with us the whole time."

"And you didn't call her?" Nick nudges me by moving his shoulder. "You left to here yesterday and you haven't called her once?"

"What am I going to say? Sorry that I almost jump your beautiful bone while you clearly don't want me?" I say with frustration. "To make matter worse, I kissed her, Nick. When we said our goodbye, I kissed her on the lips."

"She kissed you back?" I could hear the amazement in his voice.

"Yes, she did. It was everything I want in a kiss. I kissed her with all the love I have for her and she kissed me back..." I don't need a mirror to know that I have a dreamy smile on my face, but it fades away when I recall what had happened next. "Then she said nothing and let me walk away. And why do I have to call her? She has a phone too, you know."

"God, you're such a girl." He mocks me with a snort of laughter, and I swat him on the ribs.

"Oh shut up!"

"Seriously though, Tempe." With one hand rubbing the spot that I just hit him, he squeezes my arm with the other hand that is wrapping around me. "Do you like her?"

"I love her, Nick." I answer him without hesitation. "I tried not to, but she's just... she's perfect."

"And you really want to leave it like this?" Still holding me tight, Nick asks in a soothing voice. "Without telling her how you feel about her?"

"I can't. I can't risk it. What if..." I would be lying if I say that I haven't thought about it in these 2 days. "Things already got awkward between us after yesterday, what if I scared her off after telling her that I want more than just being her friend?"

"Arizona..." Nick memorized all the cities of Arizona the state in order to tease me. He only says my real name when the conversation turns serious. I know where he's going and I cut him off quickly.

"No. I'd settle for just being her best friend." I say determinedly. "She's a lot to lose."

"What would Tim say?" His question takes me by surprise. I tilt my head to look at him. "If Tim were here with us, he'd say - little sis, life is short."

"This is not fair." I murmur out my protest, both for him using the Tim card, and the fact that life was indeed too short for my brother.

"No, it's not fair." He agrees with me. "Tim didn't get the chance to tell a girl that he loved her. He'd kick your ass so hard for not even trying."

Nick is right. Tim would be disappointed in me if he knew that I'm gonna let probably the greatest love of my life slip away. If he were here, he would most certainly grab my phone calling Callie for me right now.

Taking the cellphone out of my pocket, I stare at it.

"I don't know what to say. I can't just call her, telling her that I love her out of the blue."

"Just call her. You'd know what to say." Nick kisses me on the top of my head. "She'd say yes, or she'd say no. Then you know."

I unlock my phone and press her number.

I wait patiently with the device next to my ear. It is connected after the third ring.

"Dr. Torres' phone." A strange voice that I couldn't recognize answers the call.

"Hmm... this is-" I frown, trying to figure out why Callie's not answering her own phone.

"Dr. Robbins, it's on the caller ID." The stranger says cheerfully. "Hi, this is Penny. Penny Blake. The third year resident?"

"Oh, hi Blake." Of course I know who she is. The resident that gawks at Callie every chance she gets. The background noise coming from the other side of the call seems too loud to be in an OR, so I ask. "Is... Is Callie in surgery?"

"No, we're at Joe's." Penny answers, and I could hear the smile in her voice. "And she just went to the ladies room."

"Oh, you're at Joe's..." I swallow hard. And I don't need to look at Nick to know that he's alerted by my tensed reaction to the conversation.

"Yeah. Do you want to leave a message for Callie?" Once again, Penny says with her upbeat voice.

"No, it's okay. It's not anything important." It doesn't matter anymore. I end the call hurriedly after a quick goodbye.

"So...?" Nick trails off.

"Callie's on a date." I reach for the glass of wine that I set down on the ground next to my chair, bringing it to my lips and finishing the half full glass in one gulp.

"Are you sure it's a date? I mean, you said that she's not seeing anyone." He pulls away to look me in the eyes, I just avoid him.

"She wasn't, but apparently she is now." I sigh while twiddling with the stem of the wine glass with my thumb and forefinger. "The woman just answered the phone? I told Callie that this resident was hitting on her, and now they're going out together."

"I'm sorry." He gives me a hug before getting up from the chair. Taking my empty glass, he picks up his beer bottle and gives me a sad smile. "I go get more drinks."

With the cellphone clenching tightly in my hand, I cover my eyes with my arm.

Callie is on a date with Penny Blake and I have myself to blame. She didn't realize that there are women lining up for her. I had to open my big mouth and pointed her to Penny Blake. And now, she's out there with Penny Blake.

I have waited for too long to admit my feelings for her. And I faintheartedly crawled into the freaking friend zone. I thought that it's enough for just being her friend, being in her circle. But I've tasted the heaven and now I want more. Knowing that she has opened up, she's ready to date and the one sitting across the table with her isn't me, my heart hurts and I feel like crying.

The vibration of the phone in my hand startles me. The familiar ringtone comes next telling me that Callie's calling me back. Reluctantly, I bring it to my ear.

"Hello." I have to clear my voice to make it sounds less mournful.

"Hey Arizona, you called?" She has to raise her voice to cover the loud noise of Joe's.

"Yeah, I did. But don't worry about it. I just..." Think, Arizona, think. "I just want to tell you that the party's going well. I don't mean to interrupt your date."

"Date? No, I'm not on a date." I could hear the surprise in her voice.

"I thought..." I sit up straight on the lounge chair pulling my knees to my chest. "You're at Joe's with Blake."

"No, Arizona. I mean, yes, I'm at Joe's, but I'm not..." Callie laughs awkwardly. She holds the phone away mumbling something, and then her side is getting quiet. It seems that she's walking out of Joe's as she talks. "I went in for a drink and Blake was already there. She saw that I was alone and then sat down next to me on the counter. It's not a date."

"Okay..." I breathe out a relieved sigh subtly.

"Really, I didn't even know that she was in there. I had a long day and I wanted a drink. Mark's still working so I went there alone. I didn't ask her to come with me, I swear." Callie goes on and on, and I couldn't control my face muscles pulling my lips to a wide spread grin hearing her adorable jabber. "And Blake was... you were right, she was flirtatious. Like really, really flirtatious. I had to run to the bathroom to stop it, but then I forgot my phone on the counter top."

"And she answered your phone." I chime in.

"She said that she saw your name, thinking that you were calling from the hospital for something urgent." She says, and from her breathing I think that she's still walking.

"Are you going back in for your drink?" I ask the obvious question.

"Nah, I have enough. You're actually giving me an excuse to leave." She chuckles lightly, and I laugh with her.

"Blake was that bad, huh?"

"She's not terrible, just... I'm not in the mood." She pauses for a brief moment, and then changes the subject. "So, how is the party?"

"Everyone is having fun. They're dancing right now." I crane my neck to look over to the other side of the backyard, seeing that almost everyone in the party is on their feet swaying to the music.

"Yeah? It's still going on? How come it's so quiet out there?" Callie asks.

"Nick and I sneak out. Old people party is never his thing." I settle back on the lounge chair comfortably, hearing the silvery laugher coming from the woman that has captured my heart. I know that I'd love to hear her laugh all day, for the rest of my life.

"You two sneak out? Should I be worried?" She says teasingly, and adds a quick follow up. "I mean, in the eyes of your parents, you have a girlfriend and that is me."

"Nick arrived late and we didn't have time to catch up. We're just talking." Nick returns in time to hear his name. He is surprise to see that I'm on the phone, but I guess that he catches on quickly seeing the smile on my face. "By the way, you're a big hit in here."

"How so?" She sounds intrigued. I could totally see her face with lips purse slightly and eyes squint to a thin line looking at me.

"One of the aunts asked if I'm seeing anyone. You know, those nosy aunts that you don't see a lot but always trying to pry into your life?" I ask, and Callie gives me another laugher in response. "And then mom jumped in starting to talk about you. And before I knew it, everyone was surrounding her looking at the pictures that we took in Mt. Rainier."

"So I have saved you from being nagged by your relatives?" I could hear door opens and closes, apparently she's arrived home.

"Yeah, telling my parents that we're dating probably the best idea I ever have." I agree with a smile, and I catch the look on Nick's face, raising his eyebrows silently urging me to get to the point. "Callie, I... give me a second."

I cover the phone with one hand and whisper to Nick.

"I can't just tell her that I love her over the phone."

"Then ask her out on a date, a candle light dinner." He shrugs a shoulder, and then hands me a glass of wine.

"Hey, I'm back. Nick was talking." I give the man an apologetic smile before going back to talk to Callie. "I'm coming back tomorrow around 5pm, do you want to maybe go for a dinner? I haven't really thank you for helping me with everything."

"But don't you want to take a rest after all the travelling?" She says after a pause.

"It's a 3 hours flight, I'm not so old that get tired from a short flight." I crack a joke, surprise that I don't even get a chuckle from the other side of the phone.

"Okay, dinner is fine." She says quietly.

"And we can talk... You know..." Her less of enthusiasm throws me off a little bit. I hate that the awkwardness is back. I take a sip of the wine. "About this."

"Yeah yeah, sure." She clears her throat, it seems that she's also drinking something. "We should talk about this. After all, the party is over. It's time to wrap it up."

"Wrap it up...?" My mouth hang with lips slightly parted and my eyes are as wide as they could stretch. My brain formulates no thoughts other than Callie really doesn't want to be with me. I know it. That moment in bed and my aggressive goodbye kiss have pushed too far and it makes her uncomfortable. She wants this to be over and it's not soon enough...

I register that she's talking but my mind is in turmoil. So much so that I haven't noticed that my father is just few feet away from me, also on the phone.

"Yeah, you're right." I say absentminded, not sure what I'm agreeing with. I know my face is white as chalk and I'm glad that it's too dark for my father to notice it when he comes standing in front of me and Nick after he finished his call.

"Arizona, are you talking to Callie?" My father looks at me with a somewhat excitement on his face.

"Yes, dad." I pull my lips to a fake smile.

"Good, tell her that your mom and I will come back with you tomorrow. There's something we have to handle in Seattle. We're gonna stay one more night and I'm sure your mother would love to see Callie again." He gives me a wink before heading back to the party.

"Hmm... Callie...?" I take a big sip of wine before going back to talk to my fake girlfriend on the phone.

* * *

A/N : Sorry about the hold up, and sorry that this chapter is not my best work. I know that a lot of you don't like the slow pace and want to see big progress between the two. All the buildups are for the big finale and I really hope that you'd be pleased. Just... trust me one more time ;-)

All mistakes are mine, sorry.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.

A/N : I have every intention of lying everything out in this chapter, but it gets too long and I'm writing a particular scene that is way out of my comfort zone, I'm gonna need more time. I know that you all hate to wait for so long, so... here the first half of the final chapter. Hope you like it.  
As always, all mistakes are mine, sorry about that.

* * *

Callie's POV

Standing in front of Arizona's front door, I take a deep breath, and then another one, and then another one.

When she told me that her parents are coming back to Seattle, I couldn't say that I was not happy. I've got to play her loving girlfriend one more time. But I just couldn't pull my mind out of the conversation we had right before that.

 _"We've said that we'd break up afterward." I asked, silently wishing that she'd say otherwise. "This is what you want, right? Break this up?"_

 _"Yeah, you're right." She answered, casually._

What do you expect, Callie? Looking at my reflection on the glass window of the door, I sigh again. I didn't sleep much after the phone call with Arizona. I had back to back surgeries today thank to a collapsed building. My hair looks ruffled and unloved, the small amount of make-up I threw on before leaving the hospital does nothing to cover my tired eyes and my skin seems to be even more dull than normal...

I find myself wondering how on Earth Arizona's parents believe that we're a couple as I stare at my appearance. Arizona could have anyone she wants, she has dated women so out of my league they probably don't even know my league exists and yet here I am about to have dinner with her and her parents, as her girlfriend.

The door opens before me abruptly. As soon as I see Colonel's face, my lips pull to a wide smile. I don't have to fake it. The warm smile on the old man's face has me smiling from my heart.

"I've heard your car pulling in for a while, guessing that you need a man to open the door for you." The colonel jokes while leaning forward to give me a greeting hug.

"No, I just... I just had to answer a quite text." Returning in the hug, I'm glad that he couldn't see the blush on my face. "How was the flight?"

"It wasn't bad. And I think that the three on us slept it through the whole flight." He shifts slightly letting me entering the house. "Barbara's taking a shower washing off the smell of the plane, and Arizona's on the phone ordering Chinese for dinner."

"Rough party, huh?" I chuckle. "Arizona told me that you danced in the party."

"We danced the whole night. My knee was killing me this morning when I woke up." We walk side by side down the hall, and I could see that the colonel indeed is limping slightly.

"I'm on a day off tomorrow, but we can still go to the hospital, have a check up if you want to?" I offer while looking down at his leg with concern, but he shakes his head.

"Barbara and I have something to do in the morning, and our flight leaves in the afternoon. I don't think that I'd have time tomorrow. Next time, I promise." He pats my shoulder in a gesture of appreciation as we enter the living room. "We'd absolutely come back."

Arizona has her back to us putting down the telephone, hearing the conversation between her father and me, she turns around giving me her magic smile that brighten up the whole room.

"Hey baby." She takes the few steps toward me about to greet me like the dozens time she did in front of her father. I brace myself for having the lips that I've been craving for in the last 2 days on mine, but she seems to change her mind halfway to doing so and instead catches me on the corner of my mouth.

I don't know what have gotten into me. Maybe because I really miss her soft lips, and this probably the last chance that I'd have got to kiss her, I lean forward giving her a peck before she pulls away.

"Hey baby." I try to act nonchalantly. "We're ordering in tonight?"

"Yeah." She doesn't see that coming and her face turns to an adorable shade of red. "I saw the news about the collapsed building. I've talked to Karev asking if he needed any help, and he told me that there had no Peds case but you were running between ORs the whole day. I don't want you to worry about making dinner."

"You must be very tired, Callie." The colonel gives me a sympathetic look. "Shouldn't there be more than one Ortho surgeon in the hospital?"

"Dad, Calliope is the best. Everyone wants to have her and only her in the OR when they need an Ortho surgeon." Arizona explains to her father while we sit down on the couch. It's my turn to blush.

"I can imagine that." The man nods his head, looking a little concern. "But is everyone okay now? I don't mean to drag you out to have dinner with us, keeping you from taking care of the patients."

"It's okay, I've finished up all surgeries and we have a team of residents and nurses monitoring everyone." I give him a small smile ensuring him. "You're not dragging me out of my job."

"Are you sure?" He seems not convinced. "You were answering text messages before getting in. Just a few minutes away from the hospital and they have already called you..."

"No, that was not about..." I start to panic because I wasn't actually answering a text by the door. "Just... I have a big surgery next week and have asked a few residents to help me with the research. One of them just gave me an idea and wanted to talk about it."

It isn't truly a lie. The said resident caught me before I left the hospital and asked to arrange a meet to go through it.

"You doctors never rest." The colonel looks between his daughter and me before getting up from the couch. "I'm gonna open a bottle, you deserve to relax tonight."

"Was it Wilson? The resident that texted you?" Arizona continues the conversation after his father left to the kitchen. "She spends a lot of time on Peds because of Karev, but I think that she actually has her heart on Ortho. Her face lighted up the last time she assisted you on a multiple fractures."

"No, actually it was Blake." The words left my mouth before I remember last night Arizona seemed a little upset knowing that Blake and I were at Joe's. I twist the corner of my lips, observing her facial expression secretly. "She finds some studies and thinks that would be helpful. Since I'm not going to work tomorrow, she asks maybe we can meet up in the evening, going through the papers over dinner."

"Oh." Arizona blinks up at me seemingly dumbfounded.

"I haven't confirmed to her yet." I add quickly. "I don't..."

"No no, that's... good... that's... you need the studies and... and you need to eat." She reacts a little too ecstatically. "You should totally go for it. I mean, having dinner with Blake, going over the... the studies."

"Okay, I'll shoot her a text later then." I force my lips to a smile, hiding the disappointment I have inside.

We sit side by side in an awkward silence. Luckily it doesn't last long because the colonel comes back with the wine, and Barbara joins us after she finished the shower.

Dinner arrived shortly after. We moved to the dinner table continuing the pleasant conversation. In a couple of hours I feel like I've been with the Robbins in San Diego the whole time. Barbara spares no expense when it comes to details. Arizona on the other hand said hardly anything, even when invited to join in on the conversation. She seemed blissfully happy sitting by my side with her arm around my shoulders just listening.

I realize that I haven't reciprocated very well, so during a story about Nick pulled Arizona into the dance floor and spun her around like a couple of kids, I casually move closer to her, resting my hand on her thigh. She jumps slightly at the contact but places her hand over mine as I make to pull it away. I squeeze her thigh in reassurance and Arizona responds by tightening her grip around my shoulder and kisses my temple.

"You two make such a cute couple." Barbara says suddenly from the other side of the table.

My cheeks start to color instantly.

"They do, don't they?" The colonel adds causing my cheeks to turn an even darker shade of red.

Arizona jumps up from her seat and starts picking up plates to take them through to the kitchen. I follow suit and grab the rest of them.

"Hey, you okay?" I ask as soon as we're inside the kitchen. "You seemed a little off."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Putting the plate onto the sink, she turns around, reaching out a hand for the ones that I'm holding.

"No, it's okay." I put down the plates and then pick up the plastic gloves. "I'll take care of it. You should go out there be with your parents."

"It's my duty, Calliope. You cook and I wash." She gives me a small smile while trying to take the gloves from my hand, but I pull back before she could snatch them.

"I didn't cook tonight." I say firmly with a raise of my eyebrows, telling her no more argument. "I can wash a few dishes, go and relax with your folks."

"You're amazing, do you know that?" Her blue eyes bore into mine and I feel the color rushes into her cheeks. Quickly, I turn aside trying to hide my face.

"Just go." Nudging her with my hip playfully, I urge her to move on. With my back toward the door, I put on the plastic gloves still have a smile hanging on my lips.

The gently domestic air between us is lovely. How wonderful it would be if it was real?

A pair of hands on my hips making me jump and draw me out of my thoughts. Next I know, the familiar scent invades my sense when Arizona nuzzles her head against my shoulder. She hasn't left to the living room after all.

"Are you really okay?" I watch her in the reflection from the window in front of us, trying to read her face.

"I am okay." She whispers quietly. "It's just... maybe I shouldn't go back out there so quickly. You know, keeping up the illusion that we're madly in love and all that."

"Are you worried that they don't believe we are?" I whisper back, turning on the water to rinse the dirty dishes.

"Definitely not," She admits, resting her chin on my shoulder. "All they've talked about in the last two days was you."

"Then why do you seem... upset?" I frown at her in the window.

"I'm upset because..." She trails off. I could see from the reflection that she's watching the movement of my hands. "My parents are really leaving tomorrow."

"Your dad said that they'd come visit again. And you can always go to them during holidays." I take a deep breath, secretly sad that I wouldn't be a part of their future plans.

"Yeah, I can." Arizona sighs. The hands on my hips slide forward wrapping around my waist fully. I could feel her front pressing against my back that makes my heart skipping a beat. "I'm just gonna miss having them around, you know. My house is going to be so quiet and empty without them, and you."

"I'm not going anywhere, Arizona." I say trying to keep my breathing at a normal level. "We'll see each other at work. And I'd still come over for girls night. Dinners, movies, drinks... You name it, and I'll be here."

"Not tomorrow night though." She leans down and presses her lips on the crook of my neck hiding a soft sigh. "You have the thing with Penny Blake tomorrow night."

"I don't have to..." I turn my head slightly toward her. I want to tell her that I don't have to... actually I don't really want to go out with Blake, but she interrupts me.

"No Calliope, I can't stop you from seeing... I mean, going out with anyone." Arizona tightens the hold on my waist before letting me go, giving me the space to place the rinsed plates into the dishwasher.

A lull falls between us as I work in silence, and she leans against the kitchen island watching me in silence.

After putting everything in place, taking off the plastic gloves, I stand in front of her.

"Are you really okay?"

"Just get a lot on my mind. That's all, nothing for you to worry about." She gives me a smile, the one that her mouth smiles but her eyes keep thinking. It's the thing she does with her patients when she has bad news and doesn't want to say it.

"I do worry about you." I say softly, picking up one of her hands. "I haven't seen you like this."

A long and somewhat awkward silence follows. She doesn't answer me, just looking down at our joint hands and chewing the corner of her lips.

"You can tell me, Arizona." I push as I offer her a cheesy grin trying to look into her eyes. There's only one reason that I could think of causing her sudden sullenness. "I know how much you love your parents, and I know how hard it is for you to lie to them. If you think that it's getting too out of hand and you want to tell them the truth, I..."

"I'm just thinking how hard it would be..." She shakes her head and attempts to smile but her expression doesn't alter, her blue eyes look watery and read nothing but sadness. "It'd break their hearts if we broke up."

"Arizona..." I've never seen her look as vulnerable as she does in that moment. Her eyes are on the floor, her whole body seems to sag further with every word coming out from her mouth. Her normally happy and sunny disposition appeared to be gone and I find myself couldn't help to pull her into my arms.

"In fact, it breaks my heart just thinking about it, even if it would be a fake break up." She mumbles against my shoulder.

"Me too..." I hug her tighter.

We stand there wrapping into each other's arms for I don't know how long. Finally, she pulls away, still unable to look me in the eyes.

"I'm really tired." She jerks her head toward the door of the kitchen. "I think maybe I'm gonna head up to bed early."

"Do you want me to stay?" I ask.

"Yeah, my parents would be happy to spend some time with you." She nods with a tight lips smile. "I'm sure that you'd find an excuse to slip out..."

"No, I mean..." I cut her off, not giving her the chance to continue. "Do you want me to stay with you?"

"Are you sure?" She blinks up at me, surprise written all over her face.

I take a couple seconds to think it through. Am I sure? Not at all. I might be over-stepping the boundaries between us, but I do sure that I don't want to leave her alone when she's obviously in this miserable status.

"You are my best friend, Arizona." Picking up her hand once again, I ensure her as I lead her toward the door. "I'm here for you when you need me."

Passing though the living room, I tell the colonel and Barbara that Arizona and I are tired and heading to bed early. They give us an understanding smile. They know that I had a long day at work, and Arizona was oddly quiet the whole night seemingly exhausted. Walking hand in hand, Arizona and I go upstairs to her bedroom.

She lets me use the bathroom first. Taking out the sleeping clothes that we put in her drawer weeks ago, I go freshening up.

Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I start to question my action - what the hell was I thinking? The least she needs right now is for me to complicated things. Sharing a bed with her, being so close with her wouldn't be a good idea, especially after that morning...

Oh, that morning... Unconsciously, I touch my lips with my fingertips, as if I could still feel her lips on mine...

I shake my head and take a deep breath, steadying myself before going on with my nightly routine.

Coming out from the bathroom, I see that Arizona has one of the windows opens.

"I like to sleep with a bit of fresh air." She explains seeing that I'm looking at the window. "I've taken out the extra blanket so if it's too cold..."

"It's fine, don't worry about it." I smile at her, placing the clothes that I've changed out on the chair in the corner. "I'd like some fresh air too. But it seems that it's gonna rain tonight."

"Yeah, it smells like that." She smiles back while walk around the room toward the window, pulling it back until it just opens a tiny fraction. "This should be okay."

Then, she enters the bathroom and leaves me in her very own bedroom.

It has been 4 weeks since I was in here, preparing the arrival of her parents. The room doesn't change much but there's a photo frame on her nightstand that catches my attention. It wasn't there before.

Walking closer, I could see that it's a photo of Arizona and me outside her house on the same night that we brought my stuff over. We took so many photos that night, and this particular one brings a smile to my face. It is the one that she spontaneously kissed me on my cheek right before I pressed the button.

"My mom really likes that photo." Arizona returns from the bathroom in a thin t-shirt and a boy short. She finds that I'm looking at the photo frame. "I was surprised that she didn't steal it before she left the last time."

"Well, I think that she already has enough pictures of you and me." I laugh softly, and she agrees with a chuckle.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something?" Instead of getting in bed, she walks toward the door. "I don't have a TV in here but I can go get my laptop if you want."

"No, it's okay. I'm sure that I'd fall asleep pretty quickly." I let out an uncontrollable yawn while settling in her bed, and then I pat the empty space next to me. "C'mon, you're tired too."

Arizona turns off the lights before climbing in bed beside me. Her arm lightly brushes against mine but quick as it touches me, it is gone as she subtly folds her hands on top of her stomach.

We both sleep on our backs on our respective sides of the bed, hearing the wind outside the room in silence. It doesn't take long for me to hear the even breathings coming from my side. She must be really tired. The last I remember is that I turned my head, watching the angelic sleeping form of the blonde beauty next to me.

Perhaps an hour later I'm woken up by the sound of heavy rain, and a strong, cold breeze fills the room as the wind picks up outside. In my half sleeping mind, I could feel that Arizona snuggles closer to me for warmth. Instinctively, I press my lips against her forehead before going to close the window. Once I return, I pull the extra blanket from the foot of the bed to cover up our bodies.

"Come here." I whisper and wrap an arm around her shoulder. Instantly, she cuddles up against my side and throw an arm around my torso. She tucks her head into my chest and sighs happily, her face once again lit up by her smile.

I kiss the top of her head before drifting off to sleep once again.

* * *

A/N 2: This story is gonna change to rated M in the next chapter ;-)


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.

A/N : I really thought that this one would be the last chapter but it's really getting too long, so I have decided to cut this in half and have the last two scenes as a semi epilogue in the next chapter. I'm gonna need a couple more days for that though. Writing a story is hard, trying to end it in a right place isn't any easier. Hope you don't mind, and hope you like this chapter.

All mistakes are mine.

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Arizona's POV

I jerk awake by a rumbling thunder. For a second I feel disoriented because I was having a very nice dream. I was sleeping in my bed, snuggling up against Callie and she had her arms wrap around me.

Wait, no. It wasn't a dream. Callie is really here. She came with me to my room, and she lied next to me and I fell asleep hearing her breathing... Letting out a sigh of content, I reach out an arm wanting to pull her closer, but my hand comes up empty.

My eyes snap open, panic running through my veins. I am alone in my bed.

But... but... but... I know it wasn't a dream. Callie was here. The sheet on the other side of the bed is still warm, and I can see the pit on the now unoccupied pillow... Callie was here. Taking the pillow clenching it tight against my chest, I take a deep breath and breathe in the lingering scent... Callie was here.

I stare at the alarm clock on the nightstand until the vision is blurred by my tears. It's 3am. Is it really that unbearable for Callie to stay with me, so much so that she has to flee my bed in the middle of the night?

The bed is still warm, maybe... maybe... maybe she hasn't gone so far away. Maybe she has just left and I would...

I jump toward the windows, pushing one of them wide open and then hunch over tightly peering out of it, hoping to catch a glimpse of Callie's car which should be parked in front of my house. But it is so dark out there, with the rain pouring over my head and the tears filling my eyes, I couldn't see anything clear.

Abruptly, an arm wraps around my torso and the other under my armpit pulling me away from the window.

"Arizona, what are you doing?" It is Callie. She sits me down on the edge of my bed and kneels in front of me. Her hands brush the drench hair out of my face, wiping off the tears on my cheeks and then run along my arms doing a quick exam. "Are you hurt? Are you in pain? What's wrong?"

"I... I... thought you've le... le... left me..." My voice breaks into a sob as I answer her.

"Hey hey, I'm here. I'm here." She says quickly, seemingly at a lost of my hysterical outbreak. "I haven't left. I'm here."

"You weren't... You weren't here when... when I woke up. You were... you were gone." I'm shaken from crying, and the fact that half of my body is soaked by the rain has me shivered uncontrollably. "Like... like the other nights... you left..."

"I was thirsty so I went downstairs to get some water." She sits down on the bed next to me, pulling me into her. One of her arm around my back rubbing up and down trying to soothe me, and the other on my cheek, pressing my face against her neck and she coaxes softly. "Shhh... It's okay. It's okay."

"Don't ever leave..." I mutter out, not sure that she could hear me. However, she abruptly makes a bolt for the bedroom...

Watching her walk away from me, I burst into another convulsive sobs with my face burying into my hands. I have royally messed it up. I have ruined our friendship. Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut? I have come this far for keeping my feelings to myself, why do I have to breakdown like this in front of her, scaring her away?

I was prepared for her to get her stuff, telling me that she doesn't feel the same way for me and couldn't be with me right now. To my surprise, she emerges from the bedroom with a big towel in her hand. Quickly, she wraps it around my shoulders, resuming to her previous position.

"Dear lord, you're soaked wet." She tenderly dries my hair with the towel, cleaning up my face at the same time. Her face is now so close to mine, and I can see the rim of her eyes redden, obviously on the verge of tears. "What were you thinking?"

I find myself unable to tear my eyes off of her.

"Don't ever leave." Seconds after I questioned my action, yet my stupid mouth just betrays me once again.

"I'm not going anywhere tonight, Arizona. I've promised..." Callie shakes her head while wiping off the tears off my cheek. I halt her hand by grasping it tight with mine.

"No, Calliope. Don't ever leave." I check my sobs with an immense effort before saying more firmly. "Don't ever leave me."

"I won't. Arizona, I won't leave you. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." There's a quiver in her lips as she tries to choke back her tears. Still, a lone tear rolls down her cheek slowly. I couldn't look away. I'm so captivated by her I feel like I'm in a trance.

"I love you, Calliope." I hear myself saying...

"Me too." A faint smile flickers in the corner of her lips. "You're my best friend in the whole world. I love you too."

Fresh tears well in my eyes and I swallow hard. I feel a clench in my heart and I can hardly breathe. I know she loves me. I know she loves me as her friend but this is not what I want. This is not what I want to hear from her.

"That's not what I mean... Calliope..." I curl up my lips, collecting the courage within. Now or never. I can't keep this to myself any longer. Nick was right. Maybe Callie shares the same feeling as mine, or she doesn't. At least then I'd know. Taking her hand from my face, I hold it tight with both of mine and press them against my chest. "Calliope Torres, I'm in love with you. Totally, head over heels in love with you."

Looking deep into her brown eyes, I wait for her response. Her mouth opens but no sound comes. However, her eyes, her bright, expressive brown eyes telling me that a sea of emotions is running through her mind. I just couldn't read it...

It feels like eternity that we stare into each other's eyes. Finally, she withdraws her hand from my hold. I let out a silence whimper... And then a breath chokes in my throat when that hand rests below my ear, her thumb caressing my cheek softly as she closes the distance between our faces.

My eyes close instinctively when her lips brushes mine. I'm scared to move. I'm scared to breathe. I'm scared that this is just a goodbye kiss and then she'd leave me forever.

My world stops turning the second she starts nibbling at my bottom lips. A moan escapes from my throat and Callie takes that as in invitation, slipping her tongue between my now parted lips.

For weeks, no, for months I've been telling myself to keep my distance and not to jeopardize our friendship. I'd poured my heart in the kisses that I gave her and she pulled away each time. The message was loud and clear and I should live with it. I'm a grown woman. I should be able to control myself. But in this moment, with her initiating this kiss, with her hand caressing my face, her lips on mine and her tongue dancing and curling in my mouth, I'm completely lost in her. Stupid idea or not, I am not going to fight it anymore. Screw the consequences.

My hand finds its way into Callie's raven hair, and I bring my other hand to her back, pulling her even closer as I deepen the kiss. She takes the hint, gently pressing me onto the bed and climbing on top of me.

As soon as my back hit the mattress, my body shivers from the wet and cold t-shirt sticking to my skin.

"What...?" She breaks the kiss instantly. Her face hovers over mine freezing with uncertainty.

"Don't stop..." I put my hand behind her neck, pulling her lips back and kissing her hard a couple more times before my hands go to the hem of my own shirt.

I have Callie on top of me, kissing me... I'm not going to let the stupid, uncomfortable drenched shirt ruined this for me. In the trill of passion, I arch my back and pull the offended garment up and over my body.

Looping my arms around Callie's neck, I try to pull her down continuing our make out session but she doesn't budge. Her eyes are staring down my body and then I realize... shit, I forgot that I don't have anything unearth my t-shirt.

Feeling self-conscious, I reach for the towel on my back wanting to cover myself up. She stops me by slowly running the back of her hand from my cheek, sliding it down brushing the side of my breast, and resting on my hip. Her warm hand traces a few lazy circles on my hip as her eyes find mine once again.

"Do you have any idea how stunning you are?" Her brown eyes bore into my soul, and the rest of the world fades away.

I cup her face with my hands, gently pulling her toward me. With a small smile on her face, she captures my lips to a slow, languid kiss. Our legs intertwine. It isn't long before we are grinding into each other as our lips, tongues and teeth battling for possession of the other.

Things heat up quickly as her hand on my hip kneading its way up and down my side, higher and higher it goes... her thumb brushing the underside of my breast makes me gasping for air.

My hands on Callie's back clawing and tugging at the shirt that she's wearing. I want it off. I need to feel her skin. She breaks the connection between our lips briefly letting me pull the shirt over her head. As she leans down again, her plump lips kissing down my chin to my neck while her hand making full contact with my breast for the first time. I arch my back, giving her a long, low moan of appreciation feeling her hand on me, her leg between my thighs and her naked chest rubbing against mine.

"I've wanted to do this forever." Callie mumbles against my skin before nibbling more forcefully. I moan unwittingly into her ear before throwing my head back giving her more access to my neck. I know there's gonna be marks showing all over my neck tomorrow but I can't bring myself to care right now. It just feels too darn good when her thumb rubbing my nipple in circles.

I let my hands wander down her back, into her pajama bottom. She groans between kisses as my hands squeeze her ass, encouraging her to grind down harder on my bare thigh. I believe that we are both annoyed by the thin layer of fabric between us. I grasp the waist band of her pants, she quickly writhes her hips helping me to push it down her thigh. We giggle together as she drops her head onto my shoulder, clumsily kicking the unnecessary piece of clothes off her long legs.

My giggles turn into moans when she presses her lips on my collarbone, sucking and licking down to my chest. Callie kisses every inch of skin, nibbles and sucks on my nipples... My toes curl into the mattress and my fingers tangle in her hair.

"Feels so good, Calliope..." I whisper and I feel her hot breath on my chest when she moans softly.

She kisses down my body until her head is level with my hips. Her fingers find the waist band of my boy short and slowly pull it down, all the while her lips never leave my skin, gently kissing and biting and sucking down to my thigh. I lift my body up by my hands moving backward, lying fully on the bed before Callie tosses aside the boy short that she just took off of me. She climbs back on top of me, kissing me hard on my lips and then bypasses my midsection, settling herself between my thighs.

I'm breathing hard now. My chest moving up and down with each inhale and exhale, staring down at my best friend between the valley of my breasts while she slowly kissing my inner thigh closer and closer up to where I need her the most.

Our eyes lock the entire time. Her brown eyes have turned a shade darker and I'm pretty sure mine are sharing the same desire. I throw my head back breaking the eye contact when her lips gently kissing my center. I moan out aloud for having Callie's lips on me. I've been dreaming about this for so long.

"You're so wet..." She mumbles against my hot fresh, sending shivers all over my body.

"You've done this to me..." I manage to give her a seductive smile before grabbing a pillow to put under my head holding me up. If this turns out to be the first and last time I get Callie going down on me, I intend to have this vision burning in my memory forever.

Her eyes blaze fiercely as she starts to devour me. Her face presses fully into my wetness and her tongue finds my clit, my being, my soul. I feel like I'm flowing into her mouth.

Callie relishes me, alternating between licking and sucking my inner lips and my clit. Truth to be told, I'm surprised of how good it feels considering that I know she doesn't have much experience in this department, but dear god, how wrong I was. When she swirls her tongue inside of me and laps at my sex like a cat with cream, I have to shove my fist into my mouth trying to lower down the consistent string of moans coming out from my mouth. The least I need at this moment is to have my mom woken up and interrupt us once again - I love my mother, but I'd probably kill her for knocking at my door right now.

But my effort of being quiet is of no avail. My voice is getting higher and louder the time two of her fingers slip into me, curling and thrusting in a steady rhythm. The bed begins creaking with us, and I become extremely aroused. It is a struggle for me keeping my eyes open but I fight the burn of my eyes. I couldn't look away from Callie's piercing brown eyes. And I could tell that she absolutely loving this – maybe even more than I am enjoying it.

"Harder, Calliope... please... fuck... don't stop... I've waited so long..." I tangle both hands into her hair and shove her face deeper onto me, while my hips quicken their spastic dance. "I'm so... so close..."

Her lips wrap around my clit sucking lightly a couple times has done the job. Waves of pleasure run through me and I could feel myself flooding out to Callie, my love, my soul. I cry out as my back arches and my hips thrust even higher. The fingers inside me press, and another blissful fit of spasms tear through me.

I fall back on the bed after the waves have subsided, out of breath and a little dazed. Dimly, I feel Callie kissing up my body. Her lips reach mine, nipping my lower lip and sighing in utter contentment. She presses her forehead against mine, her hand cupping my face gently as I open my eyes slowly, finding hers staring deep into my own. My heart begins to pound like crazy. It fills me with warmth that I have never seen previous to Callie.

"I'm in love with you too, Arizona." Her hand caresses my cheek as she declares her love to me.

My lips spread to a grin but tears are running down my eyes. No, those are happy tears, grateful tears, relieved tears. Callie's in love with me.

Pulling her down with both hands behind her neck, I kiss her with everything I have. I roll her onto her back, lying on top of her with my body pressing firmly atop of her. I break the lip lock, studying her face closer.

"Are you sure?" I look deep into her eyes, searching for the affirmation. "Are you really in love with me? Not just because... you know... we just had sex?"

"I love you, Arizona Robbins. I'm in love with you." Her hands rest on my back, running up and down lazily. "The sex was unexpected. When you took off your shirt... how can I resist when you tempted me with your beauty?"

"I should have taken off my shirt sooner then..." I smile, and my lips go back to hers.

I've told Callie that I love her. Now I'm going to show her how much I love her. My lips are busy kissing her everywhere, her mouth, her chin, her neck... down to her collarbone, and my hands are as busy. Bringing my hand to her sweetly curved mound, I'm delight of finally having my access to her magnificent swell. Gently squeeze them, massage them, I could hear Callie's breathing quickens and the faint moans mix with each exhaling breath.

"I love how you moan into my ear." I tug her earlobe with my teeth gently, and she gives me a soft groan in response.

If I may, I probably would keep my hands on her chest all night long, but there are more territories on this voluptuous body that I couldn't wait to explore. My hand slides down, making my way to the inside of her thighs, and she quickly and eagerly parts her legs at my touch. I run my fingertips up and down the soft skin of her upper thigh for a moment first, then I work my way back up her thigh, cupping her drenched center directly.

"God... Arizona... I want you so badly." She purrs into my ear, jerking her hips forward silently urging my hand to work. Who am I to deny her?

I drag my lips down to her chest, tasting her flesh with open mouth kisses, grazing her plump swell with my teeth, flicking her erect nipple with my tongue, drawing circles around it matching with the movement of my fingers against her swollen clit. Her moans go wild and her body writhes under mine having me smile against her flesh.

She is so wet that I could feel it seeping out of her. I know it wouldn't take long for her to come. Slowly, I move down her body with kisses. Before I reach my goal, she weaves her fingers into my hair grabbing a handful and pulling me up.

"I want you up here." Callie pants onto my face. "I want to see you when you make me come."

I don't need a mirror to know that there is a big goofy smile on my face. Leaning down, I kiss her hard on her lips, and my tongue thrusts into her mouth the same time two of my fingers filling her.

Callie moans aloud into the kiss before tearing her lips away, gasping for air as my fingers moving in and out of her sopping center.

"Fuck..." She groans and slumps her head against the pillow while her hips buck.

I pull my face few inches away from hers so that I could watch her gorgeous face in ecstasy. As soon as her brown eyes find mine once again, I increase the tempo just a little bit. Callie bits her lip and does her best to keep her eyes open. The longing and desire that is written all over that stare would have had me dripping if I am not already soaking my inner thighs.

As bad as I want to keep going, keep pleasing her as long as she would let me, I want to make her come. I want to see her come. I swirl my fingers around and dig deep with them, trying to find the magical spot within her. Once I feel the sponge tissue on my fingertips, I message it lightly...

Suddenly, Callie's whole body quivers. Her eyes go wide staring up to me with shock. Her mouth opens but making no sound other than rushed breaths and broken pants. She tightens her grip on my neck as I continue rub her sweet spot.

I am surprised of how responsive she is to my ministrations, then a sense of pride raise up in my chest. I extend my tongue licking her long neck from the base to her ear, nipping the earlobe as I whisper into her ear.

"No one has ever found it, huh?"

"No..." Callie bits her lips, saying broken words between ragged breaths. "No... god... no one... Arizona... oh god..."

If my hand wasn't busy, I'd probably raise a fist to the victory. Of course, Callie has dated guys most of her life. And it's a known fact that guys couldn't find the G-spot even if they have a map. I am the first to show her what an earth shattering, mind numbing sex should be.

Holding my gaze with Callie, I double the speed and force of my fingers, making sure to hit her spot on each thrust, and rubbing her erect clit with my thumb as hard and fast as I could go. I groan at the sensation of her inner muscles clenching my digits, and her hand grips my shoulder tighter to the point where her nails sink into my flesh.

"Arizona... you're... fuck... you're gonna... make me..." Callie grunts out between heavy breathings. She doesn't able to finish the whole sentence before her body is racked by a powerful orgasm.

Her eyes bores into mine and she bits her lip trying hard not to scream out, apparently remembers that we're not alone in this house. I quickly glue my lips with hers swallowing every sound that she's making. Her hand behind my neck clutches tight as the muscles in her legs quiver around my hand and her hips squirm out of control.

After a couple more hard spasms, I feel her relax slightly then I pull my face away, so I can look at Callie's face. Her eyes shut tight with a furrow between her brows, a flush suffusing her cheeks, her plump lips purse gasping for breath between whimpers, her jet black hair fans over the pillow and sticks to her forehead and cheeks... she's just too beautiful, I can't stop looking at her.

The brown eyes open slowly after she rode through the pleasure that I delivered. There's a dreaming smile on her face when her eyes focuses and finds me smiling to her.

"God, I have never come so hard." She breathes out hoarsely, and shudders when I withdraw my fingers from within her. "You're amazing."

"Any regret?" I ask teasingly while pulling the digits that was in her into my mouth. Knowing that I have just rocked her world, my confidence is back and I couldn't hold back a smile of smug seeing her chokes in her breath watching me taste her from my fingers.

"Actually... yes." She squints with her mouth twitched. My face falls instantly staring at her with wide eyes. A couple seconds later, her face breaks into a mischievous grin. "I'm regret that you didn't take off you clothes sooner."

"Calliope!" I give her a good slap on the hip before flopping down on the bed next to her. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Callie just chuckles. She shifts to cuddle up to my side, an arm around my torso and her leg throw between mines. I wrap my arms around her, holding her tight enjoying the afterglow in a comfortable silence.

"How long have you waited?" She asks suddenly, her fingers drawing lazy patterns on my belly. "Earlier when I was going down on you, you told me not to stop, you said that you've wait for so long...?"

I give her a squeeze and then kiss the top of her head.

"Remember I told you how Carina and I broke up?" I say, and Callie tilts her head looking at me with a frown.

"We just had sex and you want to talk about your ex-girlfriend, how nice." She attempts to pull away from me, but I tighten my arms and laugh out softly.

"Just hear me out, okay?" I smile to her, making sure that my dimples pop. She settles back down resting her shoulder against the crook of my neck. "She thought that I have a crush on you."

"What?" Callie's body goes stiff in my arms. She tilts her head staring at me once again. "It was like... a year, a year and a half ago?"

"Yeah." I give her a coy smile. "At the time I thought that she was over thinking it. I mean, you and I were becoming friends. I admired you personally and professionally, but that didn't qualify it as a crush, right? But then Carina pointed out that all I talked about was you."

"That's why you said that you realized you don't want to be with her?" She props herself up on an elbow facing me, her free hand stroking across my hips. Without her warm body against me I start feeling the chilling air. Seeing the goose bumps on my skin, she drags the blanket from the foot of the bed covering us both up to my chest. I take her hand and entwine our fingers together.

"I realized, she didn't make my heart skip a beat just by entering the room, or made me smile from just receiving a text message." I tell her.

"I did that to you?" Callie stares down at me with a quizzical look on her face.

"You did, but I didn't want to admit it, not even to myself." My free hand goes up to her back, grazing her silklike skin with my fingertips up and down as I confess to her. "I told myself that it was not you, it was the problem with Carina. She wasn't the one. So, I started to go on dates with random women from the dating sites in hope of finding someone that would take my mind off of you. But it was a terrible idea. Whenever I went out with someone, I'd find myself wishing that I was there with you instead, or I'd see something and be reminded of you. I found myself ordering red wine most of the time, and you know that I always prefer white."

"Why didn't you tell me? It'd save us from a lot of troubles." She heaves a heavy sigh, with a hint of aggrieved in her eyes.

"I didn't know I have a chance." I pucker up my lips giving her my best pretentious pout. "For all I knew, you were straight and pining for Mark Sloan."

"That's why you were so mad knowing that I dated Erica." Tilting up her head, Callie bites the edge of her lower lips keeping her grin at bay leering at me. "And you were jealous of Mark."

"Hey, there's no reasoning with the green eyed monster." My hand slides down her back pinching her butt playfully. She yelps in shock and leans down giggling against my chest.

"Would it make it better if I tell you, you were the reason of me and Erica?" Callie shifts to lay atop of me, resting her chin between my breasts and bating her eyelashes at me.

"No," I brush a strand of hair behind her ear. How would it make it better hearing Callie, my Calliope with another woman? But yeah, I'm intrigued. "But go on."

"It all started when this perky, annoyingly cheerful blue eyed blonde surgeon arrived in the hospital..." Callie brings one of her long, elegant fingers running along my collarbone as she speaks.

"Erica Hanh... she's cheerful?" I couldn't help to stop her. The woman that she's describing doesn't seem like the cold, arrogant Cardio surgeon that I remember of.

"I'm talking about you, moron." Her finger travels up to my neck, passing my jawline, making a couple circles around my cheek, down to my nose, and then brushing across my lips from one side to the other. "I found myself attracted to you ever since you started to work in the hospital. I didn't know what it was. I just knew that I started to wonder how it feels like to kiss you on the lips while you're talking to me."

"Why didn't you?" I part my lips, kissing her fingertip tenderly. She leans forward giving me a quick peck on my lips and then settles back down on top of my chest. I let my hands roaming across her naked shoulders and back.

"Like I said, I didn't know what it was. I've never fallen for any woman. I didn't know that if I'm capable of being in a relationship with a woman. So, when Erica asked me out..." She wriggles her eyebrows. "I just gave it a try."

"She was your guinea pig?" I make no attempt to hide my amusement.

"She was my reality check. Long story short..." Callie pauses, pushing herself off of me and laying on her back beside me. "I come to a conclusion that I'm bisexual. I like women and I still like men, just... I really prefer this one particular woman over anyone else."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I turn my head to look at her, using the same question that she asked me earlier.

"The same reason like you had. I didn't know I have a chance." She looks back at me, biting the corner of her lips to a timid smile. "You're so, so beautiful, Arizona. Your ex-girlfriend was gorgeous. And you had a long list of beautiful lesbians that were lining up for you. How would I know that you'd be interested in someone like me?"

I roll over to straddle her hips, putting my hands on either side of her head. My face hovers over hers.

"You are miraculous, breathtakingly stunning, Calliope Torres. Inside and out." I say it from the bottom of my heart, holding the gaze with Callie's beautiful brown eyes making sure that she knows that I mean every single word. "You have a big heart and I love that about you. I'm so lucky to have found you, to have known you, and now I can say, to be loved by you."

"You really think that?" Callie cups my face between her two hands, looking back at me with love.

"You know, telling my mom that I was dating you, it wasn't truly a slip of tongue." I admit with a grin. "When I told her that I'm dating someone amazing, someone that makes me happy and I'm seriously in love, it was you in my mind. You have no idea how I wish that it wasn't a lie."

"God, all the time we have wasted." She rolls her eyes upward sarcastically, so cute that I can't stop myself from leaning down to capture her lips.

"We have to make up for the lost time..." I mumble against her lips. "A lot of them..."

I lick her bottom lip, about to slip my tongue between her delicious lips, she pushes my away by my shoulders.

"When we had the fight, you know, after you knew about Erica..." She mutters, but quite audibly.

"Really? You want to continue talking about your ex while I'm naked on top of you?" I look at her with a frown. I feel a little hurt. Now I know how she felt while I started to talk about Carina earlier.

"No," She puts a hand on my cheek, her thumb stroking the corner of my mouth trying to ease the pout on my face. "I just want to tell you... You said that Mark gets me. He gets a lot of things about me. You have no idea how much I want to tell you that you get my love, Arizona Robbins. Only you."

"Good," I smile, and reclaim her lips again. "Cuz you get mine too."

This time, she doesn't stop the kiss.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.

A/N : all mistakes are mine, sorry.

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Callie's POV

I slept like a baby. Slowly waking up from a deep and peaceful slumber, there is Arizona's soft body pressing firmly to my front. I have a smile on my face before opening my eyes - waking up with the love of your life in your arms would do that to you. My hands caress her stomach tenderly, pulling her deeper into the warm cocoon that we have created. A short moment later, I feel the goddess in my arms stirring awake.

"You slept okay?" I rub my cheek against her neck, she groans with a deep and raspy voice has me weak on my knees.

"More than okay. My body is a bit sore though." She says and I can hear the smile in her voice. "Not that I'm really complaining. It's the good kind of sore that I wouldn't mind to wake up to every morning."

"You want me to give you a massage?" I kiss across her shoulders, and one of my hands slides down, kneading her tense thigh muscle making her moans.

"God, I hate to say no..." Her hand finds the way to my hair, pulling my face forward so she could kiss me on the lips. "It's almost 10."

"Yeah?" I glace at the alarm clock on the nightstand, indeed we have slept in. "I wonder why your mom hasn't come to wake us up yet."

"She and dad have something to do this morning. Those two were all secretive, didn't even told me what it is." Arizona rolls over in my arms, snuggling up against me as I lie down on my back, keeping an arm around her shoulders.

We really should get up, but it's just too comfortable in our bubble.

"We should go take a shower." I suggest, but making not attempt to move.

"Oh, we should. You smell like sex." She nuzzles my neck, peppering my skin with little kisses.

"Don't start something we can't finish..." I sigh while her lips kissing down to my chest.

"You're right..." Her nibbles are everywhere. I hold my breath with anticipation when her lips getting close to my rock hard nipple... but then they are gone. Arizona gets up from the bed, bringing both arms over her head stretching out her tired body, knowing very well that my eyes are drinking in her naked glory. She throws me a smirk over her shoulder seeing that I'm gaping at her. She says as she walking toward the bathroom. "After taking my parents to the airport, I'm gonna take you out on a real date. And afterward, you can give me the massage that you promised me."

Two can play this game, Robbins.

"Sounds good, but I have the dinner thing with Blake..." I throw the blanket away about to follow her. Like I expected, she halts to a stop swirling around, staring at me. I feign innocent, sitting up on the edge of the bed looking back at her. "What?"

"You're still going out with Blake?" She takes a deep breath to calm her shaky voice.

"Yeah, it's a work dinner." I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly, trying hard to hide my smirk. She was acting all strange last night when I told her that Penny Blake asked me out, I should have known that was a sign of her jealousy. "And when I ask you last night, you didn't seem to mind. You were all yeah, diner with Blake."

"I didn't know that I was allowed to mind." Arizona takes a few tentative steps toward me. "I didn't know that you love me. And then you told me that you love me..."

Not telling each other our true feelings had us wasted the precious times that we can be lovers. I'm glad that she has learnt the lesson, not going to make the same mistake again.

I extend a hand, pulling her to straddle my laps. She hooks her arms around my neck as she sits down with a pout.

"I do love you." I hold her with my hands around the small of her back, giving her my brightest smile that melts her pout away.

"Good." She nods her head. There is a big grin of triumph on her face. "You're not going out with that woman who has a crush on you."

"I'm not?" I tilt my head to the side, looking all clueless blinking up at her. I know that I should be offended of Arizona telling me who I couldn't see, somehow knowing that she's jealous, like irrationally, obviously jealous, showing me that she cares... It feels nice.

"I don't share, Calliope Torres." She holds my face in her hands, keeping her gaze on mine making sure that I've heard every word that she's saying. "You don't want to mess with me."

"Bossy..." I chuckle before giving her a quick peck on her lips playfully. When our eyes meet again, I wink at her. "In case you haven't noticed, I didn't have the time to text Blake about meeting her at dinner."

She stares at me with her mouth agape.

"I love you so much that I couldn't bring myself to go out with anyone else." I lean forward to kiss her softly, she responds in kind and her hands start to creep down my front until they are resting on my breasts.

After a little action on the bed, and a long, satisfying shower, Arizona and I walk downstairs hand in hand to find that we're indeed alone in the house. While I fix us some coffee, Arizona goes to check and finds that the luggage of her parents is still in their room, so we snuggle up on the couch watching TV waiting for the Robbins to return.

Innocent touches and stolen kisses every now and then slowly heats up to Arizona sitting across my laps to a full-blown make out session. I just can't get enough of her, and it seems that she's sharing the same passion. We don't even realize her parents have returned until sound of closing front door and a chatter coming down the hallway.

I push Arizona off of my laps instantly making her giggle uncontrollably. I cast her a glare while fixing my mess up hair, hoping to look decent in front of her parents. But I don't think it's gonna help. Just take a look of Arizona redden nose and bruised lips, it doesn't take a genius to know what we were doing a minute ago. The knowing smile on Barbara's face while she entering the living room telling me that I was right.

"Where's dad?" Arizona asks, seeing the colonel isn't coming with his wife.

"He needs to use the bathroom." Barbara waves her hand toward the hall, and passes me a box of goody by her other hand. "I bought you girls some pastries."

"Yeah, donuts." My girlfriend exclaims delightfully as I open the box. She jumps up thanking her mother for her favorite treat with a kiss on the cheek, and then picks up the most colorful sprinkles donut from the box after flopping back down next to me.

"You're such a child." I chuckle at Arizona's antic, and she gives me a wry face with her head tilting to the side while taking a big bit of the sugary pastry.

I wipe the white chocolate off of her lips with my thumb as we smile to each other, haven't really paid attention to the amused smile on the mother's face until she speaks up.

"Honey, you might want to do something to hide the..." Barbara waves her fingers around her own neck looking at her daughter. My eyes glance down at Arizona's neck and I can feel the blood draining from my face.

The little kiss bites that I have left on Arizona's chest from last night started to form to a darker shade of purple red and it makes a contrast with her pale skin. I was careful to keep it under her collarbone but she's wearing a loose collar top right now, as she moves around and tilts her head, the neckline sliding down a lot. The most angry one next to her birth mark in the middle of her chest is still hidden under the shirt, but the lighter ones around it are showing for her mother to see.

Arizona follows my gaze looking down... She gasps, and the flush is in her face.

"I... I bumped into a... a..." The poor girl adjusts the neckline of her shirt, struggling to find an excuse to explain the bruises on her body. And her dear old mother's helping her out, sort of.

"You bumped into Callie's mouth?" Barbara grins broadly at her own daughter's embarrassment. And her smile spreads even wider seeing that I'm fidgeting on my seat. "It's okay, I am not a prude. My daughter's a grown woman and I know that she has sex with her girlfriend. Not that I like to see the hickeys on her neck or hear it though."

"You heard..." Arizona draws in a sharp breath, staring at her mother. I don't even dare to look across the coffee table.

"I heard some sounds, but I fell back to sleep right away, don't worry." Barbara says easily, but from the corner of my eye, I could see that Arizona's face has turned to bright red. I'm pretty sure mine too.

"Oh god..." Arizona buries her face in both hands, calling out the big guy for a whole other reason than last night.

"Hey, like I said, I am not a prude. I know how it's like when people are in love." Barbara's on a roll, oblivious to the clear display of discomfort from Arizona and me... Or she's just having fun teasing us. "When your father and I were young, we would..."

"Mom! Can we talk about something else, please?" Arizona groans between her fingers cutting her mother off, but Barbara doesn't seem like finish yet.

"I'm just saying, it's healthy to-"

"I'll go get you some coffee, Barbara." I jump up from the couch rushing toward the kitchen before she gives me any response. I had this kind of awkward sex talk with my mom, and unfortunately with my father too after he found me in the backseat of my high school boyfriend's car, I don't need... I don't want to have it again, with the mother of my girlfriend.

I take my time in the kitchen, giving it time for my blood pressure to return to normal, and hoping that the subject of the conversation has changed. And when I return, I see that Arizona has her jaw on the floor.

"Are we still talking about..." I ask hesitantly as I hand Barbara a cup of coffee and another cup on the coffee table for the colonel. If the answer is yes, I'm prepared to run out of the house.

"They went to see a house this morning." Arizona turns to me with the look of shock still on her face.

"Your father talked to a realtor last week asking about houses in the neighborhood. And the man called him yesterday saying that there's an open house, so we come back to have a look, since we're on this side of the coast anyway." Barbara says casually between sipping her coffee.

"You want to buy a house in here? You and dad want to move to Seattle?" Arizona asks in amazement. And as soon as she sees the colonel appears, she asks the question again. "You want to move to Seattle, dad?"

"We're thinking about it." The man kisses Arizona and me on the cheek before sitting down next to his wife.

"We haven't talked about it. Is it why you two come to visit?" Arizona keeps asking, looking like she's still a little bit confused about all this.

"No, but I see how happy your mother is in these three weeks around you." The colonel turns to Barbara with a soft smile on his face. "She misses you. And I think it'd be nice for us to live closer to our child."

"But... you two like Boston, you've made a home in there." Arizona looks between her parents. The twinkles in her eyes telling me that she's thrilled with this idea, but there's still an uncertainty lingering on her face.

"Home is where family is, Arizona." The colonel gives his daughter a reassuring smile. "Don't forget, we moved to Boston in the first place because you went to Med school in Johns Hopkins and had your residency in there. Yes, we like Boston and we have made a few friends, but we can always make a home in else where. We've done that our whole lives."

That's right. Arizona has told me that they used to move from city to city due to the colonel's job. They never really have a place that could be called their home town.

"That would be wonderful, us being in the same place again." There's a grin spreading across my girl's face and she's practically bouncing on the couch. I share her joy with a big smile. "So, you're gonna buy the house that you've seen this morning? Where is it?"

"Sadly, no." The parents exchange a look. Apparently they have already talked about it. "That house looks good from the outside, but it's a fixer-upper. I don't think it worth the trouble."

"Oh..." The smile on Arizona's face drops instantly.

"As much as I want it to happen, I don't expect to find the right house in the first try. We'd look again next time when we visit." The colonel picks up the cup of coffee for a sip, feigning indifference, but I can hear the disappointment in his voice, and on Barbara's face.

"It'd take years..." My girlfriend has a pout on her face like a child who was promised a trip to Disneyland but then was told that it was not gonna happen right away. "You know what, dad? You don't really need to buy a house. You and mom can come live with me."

"No Arizona, we don't want to be intruded. You need your space." The colonel shakes his head with a frown, disagreeing with this idea.

"There is plenty of space in here. We had no problem in these three weeks, right?" Arizona waves her hands around the living room before turning to her mother. "Mom, you like living with me, don't you?"

"Honey, you don't want to live with your parents." Barbara smiles sweetly, reaching her hand across the coffee table to adjust the neckline of her daughter's top subtly. Arizona blushes slightly but that doesn't stop her from trying to convince her parents.

"Or at least you can live here until you find a house in the neighborhood? Calliope has an apartment, I can stay in her place if we need space."

I take Arizona's hand in mine. We haven't really talked about it, but yeah, I wouldn't mind.

"We don't want to chase you away from your house, Arizona." Once again, the father shakes his head. "And we have a house full of stuff. It's not practical to move everything to here, and then do it again once we brought our house. As much as we want to come here living in the same city with you, we shouldn't make a decision hastily."

The colonel is right, and his daugher is not able to argue with that.

"How about..." After a pregnant silence, I open my mouth the first time since the Robbins family started this conversation. It's not my business but I hate to see the disappointment on Arizona's face. "How about we do the house hunting for you? Derek Shepherd, our colleague knows some guys. We can ask them to find us some choices first."

"Yeah, we can go take some photos, checking them out for you." My girlfriend's eyes light up to my idea. "So we can keep this moving and don't have to wait until the next time you visit."

"It would be great. But are you sure you have time for that?" The colonel asks before looking at his wife, who has her eyes lighted up just like their daughters'. "I know how busy you two are."

"I'm not too busy for my parents, dad. And the sooner we find the house that you and mom would like, the sooner you two are here." Arizona chimes in immediately. And she clasps her hands with mine, asking me with a smile. "You don't mind go house hunting with me?"

"Why would I mind spending time with you?" I smile back to her, answering her question with a question. And I look back at the old couple sitting across of us, they're all wearing a big smile on their faces.

"We still have some times before going to the airport, how about we drive around in the neighborhood before going for lunch? You can tell us what kind of house that you're looking for?" Arizona makes a suggestion, and her parents agree wholeheartedly. "Come on, I go help you pack the luggage."

I couldn't hold back my chuckle while my child like girlfriend almost skips out of the room going upstairs with her parents.

As I'm waiting for the Robbins to finish their packing, I clean up the coffee table and bring the cups to the kitchen. Standing by the sink rinsing them, I feel the hands of my girlfriend clasp loosely around my waist from behind.

"They're all done?" I ask her quietly.

"Almost. My mom brought back too many stuff from San Diego. I have to give her an extra bag." Arizona rests her chin on my shoulder. We're in the same position, in the same place as last night, the only difference is that the uncertainty has been replaced by the clear affection. My best friend, my girlfriend, the love of my life has her hands slipped under my shirt, caressing my stomach gently. "And she took that photo in my room."

"She does?" I heave a deep breath when Arizona nuzzles against my neck. I snigger to myself, wondering how we are going to keep our hands to ourselves while we're at work. It's going to be very hard.

"Yeah. And she told me that you're one of the reasons why she wants to move to Seattle." Soft lips brushes along my neck, and her roaming hands are moving dangerously closer to my breasts. "She really likes you, and she really likes seeing how happy you have made me. She wants to be able to spend more time with us."

I swirl around in her arms, purposely stopping the movement of her hands on me. Not that I don't enjoy it, I just know that we'd get carry away, potential getting another awkward conversation with her mother again.

"I really like her too, and your father." I loop my arms around her neck, giving her my sweetest smile. "And you."

"Nah, you _love_ me." Arizona corrects me with a dimpled smile, and a kiss. She rolls her eyes upward with a grimace after releasing my lips. "Can you imagine if we were still faking our relationship and then my parents moving to here? It'd be way more difficult to break up with you."

"Hey, we just got together, and you're already thinking about breaking up with me?" I pull my head back staring at her with bulging eyes. I know what she means, but I just love teasing her.

"No, I'm just saying if we were..." She stammers out, and then catching the smile in the corner of my mouth. Rolling her eyes again, she cups my face between her hands. "Well, now that I have you, I'd never let you go."

"You better." I press my lips against her, and I can feel her smile in the kiss.

I can't help but grin too as I revel in the feel of her in my arms, cursing myself for not just giving in and letting myself fall completely in love with her two years ago.

Well, we have a life time to make it up, positively.

* * *

A/N : There it is, the last chapter - for now, maybe. Sorry that this is not the happy, happy ending that you have expected. I kinda leave it open because there's a chance that I may add a few more chapters later, but first I'm gonna walk away from this story for a while so that I can have a clearer picture of the next plot.  
Thank you all once again for liking this story. And I deeply appreciate your support, kindness, patience and understanding.  
Last but not least, no matter where they are, Calzona forever.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, I just borrowed the name of the characters for entertaining, no intention to violate any copyrights.

A/N : It has been a while, my friends. I have debated with myself during this hiatus should I or should I not pick up this story once again. I have almost a new chapter of A blind date finished, and I have written 6 chapters of a new story which I don't think I'm gonna post it anytime soon (or at all, I don't know), but I just couldn't shake the idea of the second part of this story out of my head. So yeah, I'm coming back to it, giving it a try. But I'm afraid that update will be extremely slow because GA doesn't give me the inspiration anymore, and... lately I'm obsessed with the game Hidden City :p

All mistakes are mine, sorry about that.

* * *

Chapter 14

Callie's POV

"What are you doing?" I put down the sudoku that I'm working on, asking the redundant question when the woman sitting next to me on the couch nuzzling up against my neck.

"Nothing." My blonde girlfriend says nonchalantly, nibbling my neck while her hand sneaking under my loose T-shirt stroking my stomach.

"You were the one saying that we need to save the energy for tomorrow, that's why we didn't go out drinking with the guys." I throw my head back laughing, and giving her better access to my neck.

"That was the plan..." Arizona brings her mouth to my ear, the gentle strokes of her hand moving higher and higher telling me what is in her mind. "But while you biting the pencil, knitting your brows together... you're just too sexy and I can't help myself."

The seductive voice of hers sends shivers down my spine. Despite that we've been together for seven months, she can always find a way to make the butterflies in my stomach flipping like crazy.

Throwing everything in my hands to the floor, I turn my head to find her lips. Once our lips lock, my tongue racing along her bottom lip until she invites me in her hungry mouth. If I weren't an amazing kisser before, damn sure that these few months with Arizona have given me enough practices. I love kissing my girlfriend. I can never get enough of her kisses. And it's good that my girlfriend loves kissing me too.

I could feel her lips spread to a smile as she slowly pushes me backward against the arm rest of the couch. She breaks the lip lock to tug my shirt over my head, and she begins kissing across my heaving chest even before the shirt hitting the floor.

And my phone chooses this moment to go off.

Arizona drops her face on my chest with a grunt. We both know that ringtone. It's the special ringtone that I have assigned for my father. And Arizona knows that I wouldn't ignore his call.

I give her an apologetic smile before slipping off of the couch, picking up my shirt from the floor as I make my way to the phone across the living room.

"Why are you putting on your shirt?" Arizona purses her lips to a pout seeing me fumble to get my shirt back on.

"I can't talk to my dad half naked." I answer as I reach for the phone with an arm still inside the shirt.

"It's not like he can see..." She murmurs with an eye roll, but I shush her before hitting the answer button.

"Hi, dad." I plaster on the sweetest voice to greet my father, at the same time giving my girlfriend another apologetic smile.

"Hello mija, how are you?" My father's cheerful voice comes through the phone.

"I'm fine. How are you?" Subconsciously, I sit down on the other couch, keeping a distance from Arizona. From the corner of my eyes, I could see the frustrated blonde dramatically picks up the Annals of Surgery that she was reading before our little activity.

"Good good good. I hope that I'm not disturbing your evening, mija." My father says.

"No, not at all. You're not disturbing anything..." As soon as the words left my mouth, I steal a glance at my girlfriend. Of course she is murmuring under her breath. Clearing my throat, I come up with a white lie. "Arizona and I are just having a quiet night, watching TV."

"Friday night and you're staying home with your housemate? No wonder both of you are still single." Dad lets out a sigh, half joking and half serious. "Mija, you need to go out more often. You're young, go dancing, have some fun."

I sink deeper onto the couch, deliberately avoid making eye contact with Arizona. Even though she couldn't hear the conversation from my father's end, I still feel that she'd be able to know what my dad is saying.

"I have gone out, dad. It's just... it was a long day in the hospital." I stammer out, lowering my voice purposely. "I'm just too tired to go out. We both are."

"I still don't understand why you need a housemate. Don't get me wrong, I like Arizona better that the previous one... um... Cristina. But I just don't see the point of living with a friend." He continues after a brief pause. "You know I'd be more than happy to help you out if you can't afford a house to yourself."

"Dad, it's not about that." It takes all the energy within me to keep my voice even. Arizona and I decided to move in together in her house four months ago. However, my parents have no idea that I'm shacking up with the woman I love. All they know is that I'm living with a colleague. I've explained to them, more than once... well, not the total truth but I have given them a really valid point - in my opinion. "I've told you, we work long hours. It's good to have someone sharing the house chores and keeping the place..."

My dearest father cuts me off without letting me finished.

"Then you should find a husband, not a housemate."

Arizona always says that I'm a terrible poker player. My eyes and my posture always give me away. I'm sure that me fidgeting on the couch and avoiding her eyes have given her a pretty good idea that whatever my father's saying, it has to be about her or our situation.

I watch in silent when my girlfriend puts down the magazine, getting up from the couch and heading upstairs.

"Dad, please don't tell me that you're calling me for this." I rub my temples with a hand. I love talking with my father, but I'm just not in the mood of having this conversation, again. And I need to go upstairs checking on my seemingly upset girlfriend. "I've told you that I have had a long day. And Arizona's parents are moving to Seattle tomorrow, we're gonna go help them settling in very early in the morning. I need sleep."

"Okay okay." My father knows better not to hang on to this subject upon hearing the annoyance in my tone. "I just want to tell you that I'm coming to Seattle on Monday for a meeting. We're finalizing the investment in the Archfield, I'm sending the Deputy CFO of the company to there for a week or two..."

After the call with my father ended, I go straight upstairs to the bedroom where I'm sharing with my girlfriend. The lights are on, and Arizona's under the cover facing away from the door. I know that she wouldn't be asleep already.

I slip in the bed, holding her from behind with my face nesting upon her shoulder.

"I'm sorry." I say sincerely.

"For what?" Arizona whispers with her eyes still close, acting indifferently.

I kiss her shoulder before propping my head up by my elbow, the free hand stroking her expose shoulder and arm gingerly. She knows what I'm apologizing for, but I'm still going to voice it out.

"For still haven't told my parents about us." I lean down to kiss her shoulder one more time, hoping to show her how sorry I am. "I know the conversation that I just had with my father has made you mad."

"I'm not mad." Finally she turns to me. There's a tiny smile on her face. "I wasn't sure what that conversation was about. Well, now I have a pretty good idea. He was asking why you're living with a woman?"

"Why I'm living with a friend, plus..." I hesitate slightly, but then remembering that we've promised each other that we're not keeping anything from the other. "He suggested that I should find a husband instead of a housemate. I'm sorry."

"I am not mad." She says it again with her head shaking lightly.

"Upset?" I raise my eyebrows to a tentative smile. She retreated to the bedroom telling me that she was bothered by it. I know my girlfriend.

"Well, a little." She heaves a heavy sigh, stroking my cheek with a hand. "But I get it. Coming out is important, especially coming out to your super catholic parents. Like I said, I don't want you to rush to do it."

After the fateful night seven months ago that Arizona and I finally declared our love to each other, we talked about a lot of things, including what we see in this relationship, how we are going to tell our friends about us, and most importantly, how I'm going to tell my parents that their daughter, their born and raised catholic daughter is bisexual, and in a relationship with a woman.

I love my parents, I want them to know that I'm deeply in love and this love is reciprocated. In the meantime, I am scared. I don't know how my church going parents are going to see this.

I am lucky to have a girlfriend so understanding. Despite her family was so acceptant while she coming out to them, she knows a couple of friends that had faced huge resistance from their families and it didn't end well. She loves me too much to see me going through that.

After a few back and forth discussions, we agreed that we're not going to tell my parents that Arizona and I are dating each other. Like she said, my parents live 3000 miles away. Even when my dad visits, he mostly stays just one day, two days maximum and then he's gone. We can wait to tell them until we reach the next level in our relationship.

The only condition Arizona has for me is that I'm not hiding her from my parents, which is easy because they already knew her as my best friend. So, when I told my parents that I go out having dinner with Arizona, on a vacation with Arizona, even living with Arizona doesn't seem totally odd to them.

Lesbian and gay couples disguise as roommates for decades. It worked then, still works nowadays.

"I'll tell him, but not in this visit." I twist my lips, gazing down at my lovely girlfriend. "He's coming with the Deputy CFO. The man is gonna stay for one or two weeks in Archfield looking into the books. Dad asks to have dinner with them on Monday. Do you want to go with me?"

"Business dinner?" Arizona scrunches her nose to a grimace. "I'll pass."

"It's not a business dinner. I have nothing to do with the company." I give her a soft smile. "He just wants to introduce his CFO to me and maybe I'd have to show the man around during his stay."

"Nah, you go to your father. I may spend some time with mine." She returns my smile with a smile.

"Yeah, your parents are actually here." I settle down on the bed, and Arizona snuggles up to my side. "I can't wait to see them again."

"Me too." She yawns and curls her body closer to me. "I'm happy that they're finally here."

"Hey," I look down at the woman in my arm. "You're actually going to sleep? I thought we're gonna have sex."

"I didn't know how tired I am until lying down." She wraps her arm around my torso, resting her head on my chest saying sleepily.

"Sleep like an angel, my love." I kiss the top of her head before turning off the lights.

* * *

The truck that carries the Robbins' family property has left Boston 2 days ago. 46 hours drive would be too much for the colonel and Barbara to handle, so instead of coming with the truck, the old couple stayed with their friends in Boston for 2 nights, tying up the loose end in there and then took the flight to Seattle in the same morning as the truck arriving here.

Arizona goes to the airport to pick up her parents, and I'm here, in the Robbins parents' new home with Sloan, Karve and Avery for the truck.

Things don't always go with plans. The flight was delayed for over 4 hours. By the time the parents arrived, the truck has arrived and the muscles have started unloading the heavy furniture.

Other than that, everything goes smoothly. The guys help to put the big items in places with the instructions of the colonel. Barbara, Arizona and I manage to put away the small things. Around sunset, the settling is most done.

After putting away the last box for the kitchen, Barbara and I bring another round of refreshment outside to the yard where the guys are taking their breaks. As we walk out, we find that they are sitting around the swimming pool with their shirts off. It's understandable. They all get quite sweaty for lifting the heavy stuff under the hot summer heat.

"Another beer?" I ask as Barbara and I handing over the fresh bottles. Our useful helpers accept it with toothy smiles.

"I thought you surgeons are busy and stay inside the hospital all day, how are you all... so fit?" Barbara laughs as she squeezes Avery's bicep after giving him a beer. The generally polite and shy young man brushes with a timid smile.

"There's a gym in the hospital, ma'am." Avery gives a feeble shrug and tries to squirm free, but Barbara wouldn't let go of his arm.

"You must have spent most of your free time in there then." It seems the old lady is spellbound by the resident's A&F model like body, she exclaims in awe. "Look at these guns!"

"You call that a gun? You should see this." Mark puts down the beer and strikes a pose with his arms up, showing off his muscular upper body with a proud smile. And Barbara gladly accepts the invitation and puts her hands on Mark's broad shoulders in a heartbeat.

"What is happening here?" Arizona comes out from the house to join us, just in time to see her mother's hands all over the man who is not her father.

"Your mother is filling me up." Mark winks at the giggling woman in front of him.

"I'm just admiring your colleagues." Barbara has a grin on her face, patting Mark's chest as she responses to her daughter. "But really, how do you get through a work day with all those beautiful men around you?"

"I'm batting for another team, mom." The blonde rolls her eyes, making a point to set on my laps and wraps an arm around my neck.

"You don't shop here, doesn't mean you can't look." Her favorite resident snickers into his beer bottle.

"I did look, just not this shop." Arizona sticks out her tongue to Alex before reaching for my beer. I pull back and give her a look.

"Hey, which shop have you been gone window shopping?"

"I... what? I didn't... I mean... I haven't..." My blonde's face turns white and begins to stammer, making everyone around us burst into laugher. Lucky for her, her savior has just emerged through the patio door heading to us. "Dad! Dad! Sloan is flirting with mom!"

"What? No, I... I am not!" It's Mark's turn to panic. He talks a big game, but I know him, he's scared of the super tough looking old marine. He takes a big step back when the colonel strides toward him.

The old man gives Mark a glare before picking up a bottle of beer, sitting down on one of the lounge chairs.

"Well, if your mother finds someone that sweeps her off of her feet, who am I to stop her?" The colonel directs the respond to his daughter before taking a sip of the beer, leaving my girlfriend's big blue eyes widen.

"What?!" Arizona exclaims after picking up her jaw.

"Your mother is a grown woman, she can make her own decision." The colonel shots another glare at Mark, but a trace of mischief is dancing on his lips. "Sloan, you have my blessing. But I'm telling you, I've known this woman for 50 years, she's not easy."

No one dares to make a sound, or a move except for Barbara, who apparently is familiar with the old colonel's rarely shown sense of humor. With a playful pout on her lips, she sits down next to her husband.

"Hey, you're no walking in the park either, mister." Barbara slaps the old man's lap with a grin on her face. The colonel picks up her hand and brings it to his lips with a smile.

"I know, that's why I'm so grateful to have found you." The colonel locks his eyes with his wife, as if the rest of us are not around.

Seeing the old couple so devoted to each other and openly affectionate even after all these years, I couldn't help to hold my girlfriend tighter, and she rests her head on my shoulder. When I look down, I could see the huge smile on her face that makes her dimples pop.

"Dad, you're not mad that Sloan's hitting on mom?" Arizona reinitiates the issue with an evil glance to Mark. The little devil just wouldn't miss the chance to mess with the man.

"Hey! She touched me!" Mark exclaims aloud as a little child, pointing his beer bottle to the unapologetic old woman.

"Arizona, everyone knows your mother likes to flirt. You're exactly like her." The colonel shrugs his shoulders, still holding the hand of his wife. "A little bit of fun is harmless. And Sloan, if you ever want to steal my wife..."

"I wouldn't dare, sir." The tall man holds up his hands, shaking his head fiercely that makes us falling into another roar of laughter.

"So even your dad knows that you're flirtatious, huh?" I smirk at my girlfriend and pinch her hip without anyone noticing, she squirms on my laps with a little squeak before standing up on her feet.

"Oh shut up." Arizona throws me a grimace, and then turns to the rest of people. "Anyone's hungry? Should we order in or we go to the restaurant?"

"You know what, honey? Maybe I can make dinner. You single boys mustn't have much home cook meal." Mama Robbins smiles to the boys and then turns to her daughter. "We have the kitchen done, right? I just have to go to the supermarket..."

"That would be great. We really don't have much home cook meal around." Alex and Jackson cheer with a fist bump, but Arizona disagrees with them.

"No mom, you must be tired. You should take a night off." Walking forward to stand next to her mother, the blonde wraps an arm around the older Robbins as she makes a suggestion. "Let's go to the little bistro that you like a lot."

"Fine, but I'm still going to make dinner for your friends, as a thank you for all the helps." Knowing Barbara Robbins, she'd never take no for an answer. "How about Monday night?"

"Monday night it is... oh wait, Torres you have the dinner thing with your father, right?" Mark speaks up as he points his beer at me. The irritating smirk on his face gives me a bad feeling.

"Yeah, my dad is coming to town..." I explain to Arizona's parents, but Mark cut me off.

"Not just your dad, he's coming with a highly eligible bachelor too."

"What are you talking about?" Arizona looks between Mark and me.

"Oh you didn't know? Torres' father is bringing along a man to meet with her." Mark puts a hand on his chest acting all surprised.

"Mark..." I give him a warning glare. I should have learnt not to share too much with him.

"I know, the Deputy CFO of the company." Arizona's smile freezes slightly, not knowing what's going on.

"This morning I told him about this, and he..." I throw another glare at Mark, cursing him with my eyes. "He googled the man for fun, you know him."

"Hey, we were bored waiting for the truck. By the way, you have no idea how much information you can get from Google." The gossipy man pulls out his phone and starts reading, apparently the browser is still on the page with the profile of my father's staff. "Dan Pruitt, 45, Columbia marketing science grad... blahblahblahblah... single... blahblahblahblah... Climbing to the position of Deputy CFO in a short 10 years after joining the Torres Corps. One of the youngest Deputy CFOs within the Fortune Global 500..."

"And he's sent to here overseeing the whole buyout of Archfield. It looks like your father is grooming him as the future of the Torres Corps." Jackson joins in between sipping his beer.

"And it looks like he wants to put his heiress and the future of his company together." Mark smirks around us, especially to Arizona, seemingly taking pleasure in her discomfiture, collecting the payback of the blonde messing with him earlier.

"He's not." I roll my eyes upward with a heavy sigh. What am I gonna do with these two?

"Why would Callie's father want to put her together with a man?" Barbara blinks up at Arizona with a puzzled look on her face. And I can see the colonel's brows deepen to a scowl.

Shit!

"Oh, you haven't heard? Callie's..." At this point, Mark is grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Shut up, Mark!" Arizona and I yell at him simultaneously to make him stop talking. And then my girlfriend turns to her mother with a weak smile.

"Mom, it's complicated." Giving the shoulder under her hand a light squeeze, Arizona urges us to go. "I'm starving. Let's go eat, shall we?"

As we move toward the front door, I could see that Arizona is held back by her father and both of them are in a conversation. Deciding to give her some time to explain to her parents, I ride with Mark and let Arizona takes her folks to the restaurant in her car. And well, also gives me a chance to scold my freaking best friend for his freaking big mouth.

Lucky for Mark, he hasn't said anything inappropriate during dinner or I'm sure that I'd break every piece of his bone and I'm the only person in town could save him. I have no idea what Arizona has said to her parents, Barbara is still her cheerful self throughout the night, laughing with every funny things that we talk, but the colonel... I don't know, the frown between his brows just seem deeper than usual. The few thoughtful looks that he gives me have me squirming in my seat.

We take the parents back to their house after dinner. I have a surgery scheduled the next morning but Arizona promises to come back in the morning helping for the final touch and grocery shopping. Making sure the folks are safely in their new home, Arizona and I drive back to ours.

Everyone who knows me, knows that I'm not the one that can ever hold my tongue. Not even 1 minute after we pulled out of the driveway, I turn to my girlfriend on the driver seat.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" She glances at me briefly, keeping her eyes on the road.

"Mark, and my father." I take a deep breath, fidgeting with my fingers.

"You can not apologize for Mark because it was not your fault that he opened his big mouth." Arizona keeps her voice neutral in tone, but I can detect a hint of annoyance in it.

"Well, he got the chance to make fun of it because I haven't told my dad about us." I let out another sigh.

"He still doesn't get the right to... You know what? We shouldn't let him come near my parents." She shrugs a shoulder and purses her lips while we stop before the red light. "My dad isn't really fond of him anyway."

"How about me? Does he still like me?" I try to laugh it off, but even I could hear my voice has a timid and tremulous sound.

"Of course he likes you." Arizona turns to me with an incredulous look.

"Even after knowing that I'm hiding you from my parents?" I fidget with my fingers again. "He seems mad during dinner. And I know that wasn't direct to Mark."

"He understands. He knows that you have your reason." She puts her hand over mine stopping me from twisting my fingers into a bunch. "Don't worry about it."

"Arizona..." I cast a glance at her, not fully convince by her comfort words.

"Look, I'm not lying when I say that he understands." She pats my hand before starting the car. "We talk a lot. He knows how difficult it is for my friends to come out to their families. He's just... it's hard for him to know that this is happening to you. He's not mad at you, Calliope. He feels bad for you because he likes you, a lot."

"Really?" I fixate at her profile, trying to find any hint of falsehood on her face. She returns with a reassuring dimpled smile without the slightest hesitation.

"Really."

We continue the few minutes ride in a comfortable silence, but something is weighed heavily on my mind.

"You know, I don't want to admit it, but I think maybe Mark is right." I say as I get out of the car after arriving in our driveway. "My dad might want to hook me up with that CFO guy."

"You think?" Arizona throws me a smirk over her shoulder while opening the door. Of course she'd think so.

"Maybe I should just tell him that we're together. That would stop him from trying, and stop me from making you or your parents mad at me one day." Slowly walking toward the kitchen, I need a drink.

"Or that would give him a motivation to push every single guy he knows to your way." Arizona follows me into the kitchen. Seeing that I'm taking the bottle of wine out of the fridge, she takes out 2 glasses from the cabinet.

"Why do I have a feeling that you don't want me to tell my dad about us?" Holding the bottle in a hand, my free hand rests on my hip as I look at my girlfriend with a frown.

"If you want to tell him, of course I'll support you. But I want you to do it for yourself, not because of me and absolutely not because you think my dad is upset with you." She gives me a small smile and takes the bottle out of my hand. She fills the glasses saying airily. "Do you think you're ready?"

"I don't know... My pretty effeminate Uncle Berto is excluded in every family gathering even though he isn't out of the closet." I prop myself against the kitchen island, sighing deeply staring into space. "To be honest, I don't know how they'd react when I come out to them."

"See? You're not ready." Arizona turns around and hands me the glass of wine. "Like I say, your family lives in another side of the country. There's no hurry. It's not like we're getting married tomorrow."

I take a big gulp and almost chock when an idea flashing in my mind.

"What if... what if my dad is gonna married me to that guy?"

"Arrange marriage? What year is it?" Arizona bursts into a laugh and steps closer to me, wiping off the wine on the corner of my lips with her thumb. "You're thinking too much. Your father said that he wants to introduce you to the man because he's gonna stay here for a couple weeks. You don't even know if he really is single, or into you."

My girlfriend's angelic laugher is truly contagious. I couldn't help to laugh with her.

"Why are you so calm?" Trying hard to suppress my smile, I put on a playful pout as my hands wrap around the shorter blonde's waist. "I'm gonna go out with a man."

"With your father at the same table." Arizona's mouth twists in a contemptuous sneer before sipping on her wine. "And I know you love me so much that don't even want to look at anyone else."

"Oh but it's okay for you to window shopping somewhere else." I tilt my head to the side and squint at her, still wearing the playful pout on my face. "Good to know that you don't love me as much as I love you."

"It was a joke!" Wrapping her arms around my neck, my girlfriend brings our faces closer and bats her beautiful blue eyes at me. "Why would I want to look at another woman when I have you?"

This woman really knows the effect of her eyes on me.

"Sweet talker." I wrinkle my nose at her before closing the distance between our lips.

We break the lip lock after a short, affectionate kiss. Still holding her in my arms, I ask her.

"I know that you don't want to come with me for Monday night dinner, but I really would like you to join me." I lift a hand brushing a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "In case I want to kill my father, you know."

"Fine, I'll come with you, just because I don't want you going to jail for killing your father. Conjugal visit is not sexy." She snickers at her own joke before taking our glasses and putting them on the corner top. Taking my hand, she drags me out of the kitchen. "Come on, let's take a shower and then go to bed. You have a surgery tomorrow and I have to go shopping with my mom."


End file.
